''Spicospina'' is a genus of ground-dwelling

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

s in the 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 in ...

. It is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

, being represented by the single species, ''Spicospina flammocaerulea'', also known as the sunset frog. First discovered in the year 1994, it is native to south-western

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 known from only 27 sites, all occurring east and northeast of Walpole.

Description

''Spicospina flammocaerulea'' is a small species, with a snout-vent length of 31-36 mm in the females and males growing to 29.5-34.8 mm. The physical appearance and colouration differs greatly from all other Australian frog species. It is a shiny dark-purple to black or very dark grey on the dorsal surface. There are orange markings below the vent, around the margins of the body and on the hands and feet that resemble the sunset. The throat, chest and the underside of the hands and feet are also orange. The back is granular with many raised glands, a large

parotoid gland The parotoid gland (alternatively, paratoid gland) is an external skin gland on the back, neck, and shoulder of toads and some frogs and salamanders. It can secrete a number of milky alkaloid substances (depending on the species) known collective ...

is located behind each eye. The belly has vivid light blue spotting on a dark background which is smooth. The fingers and toes are free from webbing and pads.

Ecology and behaviour

The sunset frog is only found in isolated permanently moist

peat swamp Peat swamp forests are tropical moist forests where waterlogged soil prevents dead leaves and wood from fully decomposing. Over time, this creates a thick layer of acidic peat. Large areas of these forests are being logged at high rates. Peat ...

s, in high

rainfall Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

areas. These sites have high moisture content and are often protected from drier conditions by seepages that provide water even through the drier seasons (spring and summer). Males call between October and December from shallow pools, water seepages or in open water along creek margins. They make a rapidly repeated "dd-duk-duk". Females lay less than 200 eggs that are deposited singly often supported by algae mats just below the surface of the water.

Conservation efforts

On the 19th of December 2011, the DEC in combination with Perth Zoo released 31 captive-bred endangered sunset frogs and 251 tadpoles into a private property in Mt Frankland area in order to extend the known range of the species.

References

Frogs Australia NetworkDEC
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1651413 Amphibians of Western Australia Myobatrachidae Vulnerable fauna of Australia Monotypic amphibian genera Frogs of Australia Endemic fauna of Southwest Australia Warren bioregion