Freycinet's Frog

Fascinating facts about the Freycinet's Frog

• It reaches 45 mm in length and inhabits coastal areas from Fraser Island, Queensland, south to Jervis Bay, New South Wales.
• Its dorsal skin is a patchwork of brown tones with triangular markings that mirror each other on the snout and behind the eyes, a pattern that can vanish completely in some individuals, turning the frog almost invisible among leaf litter.
• When a warm night follows a rainstorm in spring or summer, males launch a duck-like “wak” call that sounds slower than the similar Litoria latopalmata, turning the still wetlands into a chorus of soft quacks.

At a glance

About the Freycinet's Frog

Freycinet's frog (Litoria freycineti) reaches about 45 mm in length. It is normally brown on the dorsal surface with large lighter or darker patches and sometimes raised dots. A triangular marking of the same colour as the patches is present on the snout, and a larger triangular shape is behind the eyes. The iris is rusty in the upper half and brown-grey in the lower half. A white bar extends from in front of the eye around the tympanum to the arm. The lower lip is marbled black and white. The finger pads are small, the underbelly is white, and the male throat is darker. Although named for wallum swamps, it also occurs frequently in sandstone heath habitats and is found from Fraser Island, Queensland, south to Jervis Bay Territory, New South Wales. Males call on warm spring and summer nights, especially after rain, with a duck-like “wak” that is slower than that of Litoria latopalmata. Breeding occurs in any available water body, from large swamps and stream-side pools to temporary puddles.

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