Ornate Burrowing Frog

Platyplectrum ornatum (Gray 1842)

Species Info Card | Updated 1 decade ago

A medium-sized (4.5 cm) round frog with short legs. They have a broad head with large eyes that stick above its head, and the eardrum is not distinct. They have a large shovel-shaped inner metatarsal tubercle. Pale brown colouration with an elaborate series of "ornate" blotches often edged in black. Some individuals have a wide central stripe from the snout and extending along the back. There is often a butterfly-shaped patch behind the eyes.

Breeding Biology

Breeds throughout the wet season. Females lay their eggs in a foam nest they create by slapping their hands down on the surface of the water to capture air bubbles (with the male hanging on her back the whole time). Female lay about 1000 eggs in a foam nest that spreads out to a flat circle about 7 cm in diameter. Tadpoles are small (up to 35 mm), development is rapid with tadpoles metamorphosing into froglets about 6-8 mm long. The tadpoles are predators of other tadpoles and invertebrates.

Habitat

Open woodlands and grasslands, including areas subject to seasonal flooding.

Etymology

ornatum refers to the 'ornate' patterns on this frog.

General

The Ornate and Centralian Burrowing Frogs have been recently transferred from Limnodynastes to the genus Platyplectrum (a old name coined in the 19th century). Although Platyplectrum also has a foam nest like Limnodynastes, it is more closely associated with Lechriodus from the Great Dividing Range in eastern Australia and Papua New Guinea. Lechriodus also has predatory tadpoles.

Kimberley region. Also extends across northern NT, east to Queensland (including Torres Strait islands) and south to NSW.

A nasal 'unk'; males call while floating in the water.