The Sudell's frog, painted burrowing frog (''Neobatrachus sudellae''), trilling frog or desert trilling frog (formerly ''Neobatrachus centralis'') is a species of burrowing frog common to a large part of southeastern Australia. It is found on and west of the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

to western

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and southern

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 , established_ ...

as well as far eastern

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

Taxonomy

First described in 1911 by Joseph Lamb (born 1869), the author assigning the name ''Heleioporus sudelli''. The specific epithet honours "Miss J. Sudell", who collected the type specimen near

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

in Queensland. It was transferred to the genus, ''

Neobatrachus ''Neobatrachus'' is a genus of burrowing ground frogs native to Australia. They occur in every state except Tasmania, however this genus is absent from the far north of Australia and most of Queensland. Most of the species in this genus occur in ...

'', to become ''Neobatrachus sudellae'' in 2012, the epithet reflecting the gender of its namesake. The decision that is the same species as ''Neobatrachus centralis'' is based on work by Roberts in 2010.

Description

The Sudell's frog is relatively small, reaching only 40 mm in length. It is highly variable and is generally brown, however it may also be grey, yellow or reddish on the dorsal surface with irregular darker spots or blotches. There is often a pale mid-dorsal stripe running down the back. The belly is smooth and pale cream or white. The toes are fully webbed, however a deep indentation is present between the webbing of each toe. The metatarsal tubercles (a shovel like structure on the foot to assist with burrowing) are completely black. The pupil is vertical and iris is silver. The trilling frog is a medium-sized short, fat frog (5 centimetres measured from

snout A snout is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw. In many animals, the structure is called a muzzle, rostrum, or proboscis. The wet furless surface around the nostrils of the nose of many mammals is c ...

to posterior), usually of a brown and tan colour with sharply differentiated mottling, much like army desert camouflage. This frog is white underneath. The

pupil The pupil is a black hole located in the center of the iris of the eye that allows light to strike the retina.Cassin, B. and Solomon, S. (1990) ''Dictionary of Eye Terminology''. Gainesville, Florida: Triad Publishing Company. It appears black ...

of this frog contracts to a vertical slit. The

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal co ...

surface is usually smooth, however it is reported that during the breeding season, the males develop fine, dark bristles on their back. The trilling frog can be differentiated from the painted frog ('' Neobatrachus pictus'') by the 'baggy pants' of loose skin that extends almost to their knees when the hind legs are extended

Distribution

The trilling frog is found throughout the central Australian deserts in a band encompassing

and

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

; it is remarkable in its toleration for

arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ar ...

environments. Frogs commonly called Sudell's frog have a more easterly distribution.

Ecology and behaviour

Sudell's frog inhabits ponds, dams, ditches, clay pans or any still water in woodland, shrubland, and disturbed areas (including farmland). Males make a short trilling sound while floating in water after heavy rains, which flood the breeding area, from late winter through to autumn. The species is an adapted burrower and will often spend periods of time underground to avoid drought conditions. About 600 eggs are laid in a clump entwined among vegetation near the surface, however will sink if disturbed. Hatching occurs about 3 days after laying and tadpoles are plump and large reaching about 77 mm (at about stage 40). The tadpoles often overwinter and metamorphs measure from about 20 to 30mm in length. The trilling frog is adapted to desert conditions and can spend years without having to surface, buried deep underground with their

glands In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland). Structure De ...

under the skin full of water. Trilling frogs will commonly dig themselves to the surface at the beginning of the late summer rains. There are stories that to prevent death by thirst,

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

could catch these frogs by cleverly stamping on the right patch of ground to simulate thunder or falling rain, causing the frogs to surface where they could then be made to give up their stored moisture. These frogs will spend a few weeks calling nightly while floating in or sitting at the edge of rainwater filled

claypan Claypan is a dense, compact, slowly permeable layer in the subsoil. It has a much higher clay content than the overlying material, from which it is separated by a sharply defined boundary. The dense structure restricts root growth and water infiltra ...

s, puddles and waterholes. They eat the numerous insects accompanying the rains and lay eggs in drawn out clumps, often wrapped around snags in the water. The tadpoles mature very quickly. Like most Australian frogs, the trilling frog is an opportunistic

predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

and so the diet of the species consists mostly of any desert dwelling insects and reptiles small enough to fit in its mouth. In some areas it is the only ground living

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...

collected.

Similar species

It is similar to other species of ''

'', particularly the painted burrowing frog ('' Neobatrachus pictus''), from which it can be distinguished by baggy skin around the groin not being present in ''N. pictus''. It is also similar to the ornate burrowing frog ('' Platyplectrum ornatum'') and ''

Heleioporus ''Heleioporus'' is a genus of frogs native to Australia. Of the six species in this genus, five live in south-west Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the ...

'' from which it can be distinguished by a fully black metatarsal, webbed toes and vertical pupil.

Genetics

This interesting little frog is a

tetraploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than one pair of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, where each set contains ...

organism, having double the normal number of

chromosomes A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...

. Genetic analysis led to speculation that ''Neobatrachus centralis'' is the same species as ''Neobatrachus sudelli'' (Roberts, 1997), something that is now accepted.

As a pet

It is kept as a pet.Mark Davidson. 2005. Australian Reptile Keeper Publications. In Australia this animal may be kept in captivity with the appropriate permit.

References

Bibliography

*Anstis, M. 2002. Tadpoles of South-eastern Australia. Reed New Holland: Sydney. *Robinson, M. 2002. A Field Guide to Frogs of Australia. Australian Museum/Reed New Holland: Sydney. * Database entry includes a range map and justification for why this species is of least concern *Cogger, H.G. 1979. ''Reptiles & Amphibians of Australia''. A. H. & A. W. REED PTY LTD. *Mahony MJ, Robinson ES. ''Polyploidy in the Australian leptodactylid frog genus Neobatrachus.''. 1: Chromosoma. 1980;81(2):199-212. *J. L. Read, ''Abundance and recruitment patterns of the trilling frog (Neobatrachus centralis) in the Australian arid zone.'' Australian Journal of Zoology 47(4) 393 - 404 *Tyler, M.J. 1994. ''Australian Frogs A Natural History''. Reed Books *Anstis, M. 2002. ''Tadpoles of South-eastern Australia.'' Reed New Holland: Sydney.
DEH Frogs of SA > Neobatrachus centralis
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q2275175, from2=Q7842025 Neobatrachus Amphibians of Queensland Amphibians of New South Wales Amphibians of Victoria (Australia) Amphibians of South Australia Amphibians described in 1911 Frogs of Australia Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN