Southern Ornate Nursery Frog

Scientific name: Cophixalus australis

Author(s)

FrogID Team
Updated

21/04/22
Read time

2 minutes

Southern Ornate Nursery Frog, Cophixalus australis Image: Stephen Mahony
© Stephen Mahony

Fast Facts

IUCN Conservation Status

LEAST CONCERN (LC)
Classification

Genus

Cophixalus

Species

australis

Family

Microhylidae

Order

Anura

Subclass

Lissamphibia

Class

Amphibia

Subphylum

Vertebrata

Phylum

Chordata

Kingdom

Animalia
Size Range

3 cm

Description

A small species of frog reaching up to nearly 3 cm in body length. It has a brown, grey or cream-coloured back, with or without orange, brown and beige patches. There is a dark W-shaped marking on the upper back, a dark horizontal stripe between the eyes and pale yellow eye-spots on the lower back. There is sometimes a thin or broad longitudinal yellow stripe along the middle of the back. There is often also a pale triangular patch on the head. The belly is cream-coloured, grey or pale brown, with or without mottling. The pupil is horizontal and the iris is flecked with gold. Fingers and toes are unwebbed, both with small discs.

Similar Species

Looks similar to Cophixalus ornatus in its distribution, but lacks the pale yellow on the groin and back of the thighs that is present in Cophixalus ornatus.

Distribution

Found only in the southern Atherton Tablelands, Mt Bellenden Ker, Mt Bartle Frere, Tully, and Innisfail, all in the Wet Tropics region of QLD.

Breeding Biology

Eggs are laid on land as a small cluster connected by a thin jelly string among rocks, in soil bank holes and shallow burrows under leaf litter or logs. The nest is guarded by the male, as it is with other Cophixalus species. Tadpoles never swim in water; instead they develop entirely inside the egg and hatch as little frogs. It is unknown how long they take to develop into frogs, but Cophixalus ornatus eggs have been recorded taking 28 days to hatch. Breeds during spring to summer after rain.