Cooloola sedge frog

Cooloola sedge frog
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Hylidae
Genus:	Litoria
Species:	L. cooloolensis
Binomial name
Litoria cooloolensis Liem, 1974
Synonyms[2]
Dryomantis cooloolensis — Wells and Wellington, 1985

The Cooloola sedge frog or Cooloola tree frog (Litoria cooloolensis) is a species of frog in the subfamily Pelodryadinae.

It is endemic to Australia and only known from Fraser and North Stradbroke Islands, off south-eastern Queensland.[1][2]

Habitat

It inhabits sandy coastal and island freshwater lakes and wallum creeks, with a preference for dense reed beds. It is threatened by water extraction and pollution and by tramping of the reef beds. It occurs in the Great Sandy National Park.[1]

Description

This amphibian's back is yellowish green, speckled with dark spots, and the hidden surfaces of its thighs are orange with a purple-brown stripe.[3] The belly is grainy and white in color.[4]

L. cooloolensis, like other members of the genus Litoria, has horizontal irises.

Taxonomy

Litoria cooloolensis is part of the species-group L. bicolor, which was created to accommodate 7 species from the region that had characteristics in common.

The other members of the group are: Litoria fallax in Australia; Litoria bicolor in Austrália and Papua New Guine; Litoria bibonius, Litoria contrastens, Litoria longicrus and Litoria mystax in Papua New Guine.[5]

References

1. Harry Hines; Ed Meyer; Jean-Marc Hero; David Newell; John Clarke (2004). "Litoria cooloolensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2004: e.T41032A10391210. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T41032A10391210.en. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
2. Frost, Darrel R. (2022). "Litoria cooloolensis Liem, 1974". Amphibian Species of the World: An Online Reference. Version 6.1. American Museum of Natural History. doi:10.5531/db.vz.0001. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
3. IUCN (2004-04-30). "Litoria cooloolensis: Harry Hines, Ed Meyer, Jean-Marc Hero, David Newell, John Clarke: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2004: e.T41032A10391210". doi:10.2305/iucn.uk.2004.rlts.t41032a10391210.en. Retrieved 2023-02-10. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
4. Rowland, J. 2012. Cooloola sedgefrog, Litoria cooloolensis. Targeted species survey guidelines. Queensland Herbarium, Department of Environment and Science, Brisbane.
5. Kraus, Fred; Allison, Allen (June 2004). "Two New Treefrogs from Normanby Island, Papua New Guinea". Journal of Herpetology (2): 197–207. doi:10.1670/100-03A. ISSN 0022-1511. Retrieved 2023-02-10.