Southern Stuttering Frog

Fascinating facts about the Southern Stuttering Frog

• A 2023 phylogenetic study split the southern stuttering frog from its northern cousin, finding a deep divergence that led to its description as a new species, Mixophyes australis.
• Even though it can grow larger than many other Australian frogs, the southern stuttering frog now occupies just a sliver of its historic home – two-thirds of its range has vanished. Once common from Carrai National Park down to East Gippsland, those lost habitats have pushed it onto the IUCN’s Endangered list. It highlights how quickly a once-widespread amphibian can slide toward extinction.
• The species lives in temperate and subtropical rainforests, wet sclerophyll forests, and moist gullies in dry woodlands, and has been recorded in both upland and low-land habitats, unlike its relative M. balbus, which is a high-altitude specialist.
• The Macleay River separates the southern stuttering frog’s range from that of the northern stuttering frog.
• Populations south of Sydney have plummeted, and the Victorian groups are now thought extinct, while northern pockets are thought to be stable.

At a glance

About the Southern Stuttering Frog

The southern stuttering frog (Mixophyes australis) is a large species endemic to south-eastern Australia that inhabits temperate and subtropical rainforest, wet sclerophyll forest, and moist gullies in dry forests, and unlike its northern cousin Mixophyes balbus it occurs in both upland and lowland habitats.

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