The northern sandhill frog (''Arenophryne rotunda'') is a small,

fossorial A fossorial () animal is one adapted to digging which lives primarily, but not solely, underground. Some examples are badgers, naked mole-rats, clams, meerkats, and mole salamanders, as well as many beetles, wasps, and bees. Prehistoric eviden ...

frog native to a small region of the Western Australian coast. It was formerly considered the sole species within the genus ''Arenophryne'' until the first decade of the 2000s, when a new species of frog called the

southern sandhill frog ''Arenophryne xiphorhyncha'', the southern sandhill frog, is a fossorial anuran found in a limited range of far western Australia. The only congener to ''A. xiphorhynca'' is the northern sandhill frog, ''Arenophryne rotunda'', which was consider ...

was discovered about 100 kilometres from Geraldton, Western Australia in Kalbarri National Park and given the scientific name ''Arenophryne xiphorhyncha''.

Description

The northern sandhill frog is a small, rotund frog, reaching a maximum length of 33 millimetres (1.3 in). It is a burrowing frog, and has short, strong legs. The dorsal surface is mottled in colour, from dark grey and white to pale brown. It is covered in small warts and ridges. It also has small, bright red or green, patches on its back. The ventral surface is a dull white. The head is small, and triangular in shape, and the body is flat. The tympanum is not visible

Ecology and behaviour

The sandhill frogs are one of the more peculiar of the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n ground frogs, family

Myobatrachidae Myobatrachidae, commonly known as Australian ground frogs or Australian water frogs, is a family of frogs found in Australia and New Guinea. Members of this family vary greatly in size, from species less than long, to the second-largest frog ...

. Most of the Australian burrowing frogs burrow backwards; only the sandhill frog and the

turtle frog ''Myobatrachus'' is a genus of frogs found in Western Australia. It is monotypic, being represented by the single species, ''Myobatrachus gouldii'', also known as the turtle frog. It has a small head, short limbs, and a round body, up to long. ...

(''Myobatrachus gouldii'') burrow head first. To achieve this, both frogs have small heads and strong arms. The sandhill frog inhabits coarse-grained

sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

s on the coast of Western Australia, ranging from

Shark Bay Shark Bay (Malgana: ''Gathaagudu'', "two waters") is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/world/shark-bay area is located approximately north of Perth, on the ...

in the north, Kalbarri National Park in the south and Cooloomia in the east. They inhabit an area which does not have much free-standing water, as it is quickly absorbed into the sand. However, the sand becomes moist at a relatively shallow depth. During the day, the sandhill frog will avoid desiccation by burrowing into the moist layer of the sand, emerging at night to hunt. (Hogan et al. 2012) Their diet primarily consists of ants. During March and April, the males will call from above or below the surface of the sand. The male and female will burrow together. As the dry season dries out the sand, the frogs will continue to dig further to remain in the wet layer. They may reach depths of 80 centimetres (2.6 ft). They will lay a maximum of eleven eggs underground, where they undergo direct development, and bypass the tadpole stage. The adult frogs will remain underground for at least five months.

References

* Database entry includes a range map and a brief justification of why this species is of least concern * C.Michael Hogan, J.M.Hero & J.D.Roberts. 2012
Species account for ''Arenophryne rotunda''
ed. Michelle Koo. AmphibiaWeb. * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1651192 Myobatrachidae Amphibians of Western Australia Shark Bay Amphibians described in 1976 Frogs of Australia Endemic fauna of Southwest Australia