'Amphibian' does not just mean living partly on land
partly on water (e.g. hippopotamus, duck) but means a group of
vertebrate animals that start their lives breathing through gills like
fish and then metamorphosing into a lung-breathing adult. These include
frogs, toads, newts, salamanders
and
caecilians.
All native amphbians
in Ausralia are frogs - we have no native species of the other
groups (although some of our 'bumpier' species are
referred to as 'toads' or 'toadlets' and the cane toad has been
introduced from South America)
Most frogs in Australia belong to one
of two major families, both with affinities to South
American families (because of our shared
Gondwana heritage):
* Hylidae
-
the
treefrogs
and
their relatives (not all of which
actually climb trees) - many species throughout Australia (picture
above right)
* Myobatrachidae
-
the
'southern
frogs',
which in Australia have a fascinating
assortment of breeding styles - many species throughout Australia
(picture to left)
Some of the
'southern frogs' have bizarre breeding habits - e.g. the hip pocket
frog (the male raises the tadpoles in his 'pockets'), and the gastric
broodfrog, which, like several of our frogs, seems tragically to now be
extinct (see 'amphibian declines' below).
We also have
representatives of two other families
along our northern coastal regions
- Microhylidae
-
narrow-mouthed
frogs,
a
family of small frogs found across most
of the world's tropical regions. Australian species lay eggs that hatch
not into tadpoles but ready-formed frogs
- Ranidae -
the 'typical' frogs found throughout most of the world, but only one
species in Australia
Their ancestors
presumably joined us relatively recently from southeast Asia, which at
least partly exlains their fart northern distribution, whereas
the other two families have been woth us since we were part of
Gondwana, and have had time to spread throughout the continent
We unfortunately
also have an introduced species of Bufonidae - the cane toad - which
has been poisoning native mammals, reptiles and birds that eat it, and
has been multipying into large numbers and spreading across vast areas
of eastern Australia since its release in the north Queensland
canefields.
Further
information
>Frogs Australia
>Amphibian
Declines in Australia
>Australia's
oldest amphibians
>Field Guide
to the Frogs of Australia (book)
>Tadpoles
of
Southeast
Australia (book)
See also wildlife of the Scenic Rim
