Haswell's Frog

Fascinating facts about the Haswell's Frog

• A frog that barely fits on a thumb, adult Haswell's frogs top out at 30 mm (1.2 in) long, yet they sport a flash of red on their thighs, earning the nickname “red-groined froglet.”
• When rain drums on the Australian coast in autumn and winter, male Haswell's frogs launch an “annk” call from both water and land, and the call can be heard most of the year.
• From egg to froglet in roughly 100 days, Haswell's frog completes metamorphosis in spring and autumn, emerging at just 13 mm (0.51 in) long.
• Endemic to a narrow strip of eastern Australia, from Port Macquarie to the Mornington Peninsula, this species is the sole representative of its genus, Paracrinia.

At a glance

About the Haswell's Frog

The diminutive Haswell's frog, Paracrinia haswelli, measures just 30 mm from snout to vent, its skin a shifting palette of light grey-brown to red-brown speckled with darker flecks. A faint mid-dorsal stripe runs along its back, while a dark band traces from the eye to the shoulder, and the upper half of its iris glints silver. Its most striking feature, a vivid red on the thighs, has earned it the nickname "red-groined froglet," though this hue only fully appears after metamorphosis. The belly is a muted light brown dotted with white patches, completing a camouflage that blends seamlessly with the leaf litter of its coastal swamp homes. Endemic to eastern Australia, Haswell's frog inhabits the wallum swamplands and heathlands from Port Macquarie, New South Wales down to the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, also venturing into dams, ponds, and forest ditches. Males announce their presence with an "annk" call from water or land, especially after autumn and winter rains. Eggs cling to submerged sticks and leaves, hatching into tadpoles with dramatically arched tail fins that develop over roughly 100 days before metamorphosing in spring or autumn into 13-mm froglets, tiny replicas of the adult, save for their still-developing red thighs. This rapid, season-linked life cycle, coupled with its striking thigh coloration that only emerges post-metamorphosis, offers a vivid glimpse into the adaptive artistry of Australia's amphibian fauna.

More other animals to discover

Browse Feravox