| Australian wood frog | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Family: | Ranidae |
| Genus: | Hylarana |
| Species: | H. daemeli |
| Binomial name | |
| Hylarana daemeli (Steindachner, 1868) |
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| Global range (in black). | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Rana daemeli Steindachner, 1868 |
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The Australian wood frog (Hylarana daemeli), locally simply known as "the" wood frog, is the only species from the family Ranidae that occurs in Australia. The species is restricted to the rainforest of northern Queensland, the eastern border of Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory and much of New Guinea. Long placed in the "wastebin genus" Rana, it is now in Hylarana together with such species as the Common Green Frog of Southeast Asia.
Contents |
The Australian wood frog is an elegant frog, with an elongated head and body, with the head forming a narrow triangle at the snout. Common to the true frogs, it has large, protruding eyes, and large, distinct tympanum. The dorsal surface is bronze in colour, with skin folds running from the eye to the base of the leg. A dark strip begins at the nostril, runs through the eye and over the tympanum, and a white line is present on the top lip. Males are 43–58 millimetres in length, and the females 58–81 millimetres in length.
The Australian wood frog is a terrestrial frog, spending much of its time amongst dense vegetation close to a water source, usually in or near rainforests. The Australian wood frog is unique among the Australian frogs, for its vocal sac is not under the jaw, but on either side of the head. Its call is a series of low "quacks".