Watjulum frog

species of amphibian

The watjulum frog, watjulum mission tree frog, large rocket frog or giant rocket frog (Litoria watjulumensis) is a frog from northern Australia.[4] It lives in Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.[5][2]

Watjulum frog
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Pelodryadidae
Genus: Litoria
Species:
L. watjulumensis
Binomial name
Litoria watjulumensis
Synonyms[2][3]
  • Hyla latopalmata watjulumensis (Copland 1957)
  • Hyla spaldingi (Hosmer 1964)
  • Hyla wotjulumensis (Tyler 1968)
  • Litoria wotjulumensis (Tyler, 1971)
  • Litoria spaldini (Wells and Wellington, 1985)
  • Litoria wotjulumensis (Wells and Wellington, 1985)

The male adult frog is 40 mm long from nose to rear end and the female is 60 mm long. It is light brown to dark brown in colour with dark stripes from the nose to both armpits. The belly is lighter or white. The front feet have no webbing and the back feet are mostly webbed.[4]

This frog lives in forests and near the edges of swamps and streams. People often see it at the bottoms of large rocks.[5]

This frog lays eggs in temporary bodies of water with sand or gravel at the bottom, 30–200 eggs at a time. The tadpoles take 8 weeks to become frogs.[5]

References change

  1. Jean-Marc Hero; Dale Roberts; Paul Horner; Richard Retallick (2004). "Litoria watjulumensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2004. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: e.T41115A10401517. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T41115A10401517.en. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Litoria watjulumensis: Watjulum Frog". Frogs of Australia. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  3. "Litoria watjulumensis (Copland, 1957)". Amphibian Species of the World 6.0, an Online Reference. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Eric Vandernuys (2012). Field Guide to the Frogs of Queensland. Csiro Publishing. p. 76. ISBN 9780643106307. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 J-M Hero; et al. (April 5, 2002). "Litoria watjulumensis: Watjulum Frog". Amphibiaweb. Retrieved July 10, 2020.