Bilingual Froglet

Crinia bilingua (Martin, Tyler & Davies 1980)

Species Info Card | Updated 1 decade ago

A small (2 cm) slender-bodied pale brown frog with or without an elaborate pattern of bars and stripes across the body and limbs. The limbs are of moderate length and slender. The fingers and toes are unwebbed, but the toes have a lateral fringe.

Breeding Biology

This species calls from the base of grass tussocks at the edge of swamps and temporarily flooded areas. Calling is steady during the summer wet season, but this species may also call during the winter dry season, one of the few Kimberley species that does so. The small eggs are scattered on the bottom of breeding ponds or attached to vegetation. Tadpoles grow up to 26 mm in total length and larval life may be as short as 2 weeks owing to high temperatures experienced in summer for this species compared to the southwestern species that breed in winter.

Habitat

Streamsides and areas where water persists during the dry season.

Etymology

The species name means 'two-voiced' in reference to the two kinds of different calls a male will make.

General

These small frogs are very common in the Australian tropics, but almost never seen owing to their shy nature and affinity for sheltering in thick grass tussocks.

Kimberley region, but excluding Broome and Derby. West to Yampi Peninsula and south to Mount Barnett, Tableland and the Black Elvire River. Also occurs in the Northern Territory.

A high-pitched rattle or clicking sound with a musical quality. The call has two parts, hence the scientific name.