The Cooloola sedge frog or Cooloola tree frog (''Litoria cooloolensis'') is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is ...

in the subfamily

Pelodryadinae Pelodryadinae, also known as Australian treefrogs (although not all members are arboreal), is a subfamily of frogs found in the region of Australia and New Guinea, and have also been introduced to New Caledonia, Guam, New Zealand, and Vanuatu. ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to Australia and only known from

Fraser Fraser may refer to: Places Antarctica * Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands Australia * Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen * Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal e ...

and

North Stradbroke Island North Stradbroke Island ( Jandai: ''Minjerribah''), colloquially ''Straddie'' or ''North Straddie'', is an island that lies within Moreton Bay in the Australian state of Queensland, southeast of the centre of Brisbane. Originally there was onl ...

s, off south-eastern

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

Habitat

It inhabits sandy coastal and island freshwater lakes and

wallum Wallum, or wallum country, is an Australian ecosystem of coastal south-east Queensland, extending into north-eastern New South Wales. It is characterised by flora-rich shrubland and heathland on deep, nutrient-poor, acidic, sandy soils, and re ...

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 Great Sandy National Park is a coastal national park in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. Geography The park features untouched beaches, large sand dunes, heathlands, rainforests, swamps, creeks, freshwater lakes and mangrove fore ...

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. The belly is grainy and white in color. ''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 The northern dwarf tree frog (''Litoria bicolor'') is a small species of tree frog native to northern Australia, from the Kimberly region of Western Australia to Bowen, Queensland, and Aru Islands of Indonesia. These small frogs are also commo ...

'' in Austrália and Papua New Guine; '' Litoria bibonius, Litoria contrastens'', '' Litoria longicrus'' and '' Litoria mystax'' in Papua New Guine.

References

Litoria Frogs of Australia Endemic fauna of Australia Amphibians of Queensland Amphibians described in 1974 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Pelodryadinae-stub