Monday, July 19, 2010

Corroboree frog information

Appearance


The Southern Corroboree Frog of Australia is one of the most striking frogs in the world. Those from the Fiery and Brindabella Ranges have lime or yellow and black stripes. Those in the Snowy Mountains region further south have brighter yellow stripes. The pattern of each frog is different.
These are fully grown corroboree frogs.

Size

The frogs are tiny. Adults grow to about 30 mm. The sound made by the adult male frog is rather like when you run a wet finger over a blown up balloon.

Habitat

The Southern Corroboree frog is only found in a very small area (about 400 sq kms) of snowgum woodlands and sphagnum bogs in Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales, one of the coldest parts of the Australian mainland. The Corroboree frog is found only at altitudes above 1300 metres. There are just 3 main populations of Corroborree Frog: the Snowy Mountains, Fiery Range and the Brindabella Range.

Corroboree frogs are only found in a small area of south-eastern New South Whales.





















Diet
Young frogs, called froglets, eat beetles, bugs, ants, insect larvae and mites. The adults mostly eat ants, but also eat beetles and mites.


Reproduction
The Corroboree  frog lays 10-30 eggs a year. Each egg is just 3.5mm in diameter .Corroboree frogs lay their eggs under leaves on the forest floor. When the tadpoles hatch, the mother or father takes the tadpoles on its back. They climb up trees, they take each tadpole to a little pool of water in a leaf or a big flower. The frog feeds the tadpoles and looks after them. Some mothers lay extra eggs for the tadpoles to eat.






Why they are endangered.

The corroboree frog is endangered due to a new fungus introduced to the region in 1970.The fungus eats away their skin and then they die .Another reason why they are endangered is due to human encroachment on their habitat, by feral animals, and by extended droughts.

By Alex and Rhys, please comment and suggest below. We would really appreciate it