Painted frog

[Mark Newton]

Neobatrachus pictus

This one from the Flinders Ranges SA. A little different to those from the nearby semi-arid mallee areas.

[RedEyeGirl]

wow i haven't seen a pic of them before

[Timmo]

Awsome looking frog and nice shoot.

[trogdor1988]

very nice mark, great pics as allways..

steve

[oddball]

Pretty frog!
:S Although I just had a thought, because they are that golden brown colour, do people mistake them for cane toads alot and kill them?
Most people just know toads are brown and frogs are green.

[Mark Newton]

Originally Posted by oddball

Pretty frog!
:S Although I just had a thought, because they are that golden brown colour, do people mistake them for cane toads alot and kill them?
Most people just know toads are brown and frogs are green.

Thankfully no.....because these frogs are found in South Australia and we dont have Bufo to deal with people here dont normally get into killing frogs. The other aspect is that this species is rarely ever seen by average Joe. They only come out during rains after a long dry spell, mate, lay eggs and burrow back down again. They may be active for a few nights in that period, but thats pretty well it. Larval development is directly proportional to water levels and temperature, they can take literally months to finish development or it can be a matter of only a few weeks in a rapidly evaportaing ephemeral pool.

I also should add that they are highly variable in colour and can actually be quite colourful, hence the name, this is probably one of the plainest ones I've ever photographed.

[oddball]

Originally Posted by Mark Newton

Thankfully no.....because these frogs are found in South Australia and we dont have Bufo to deal with people here dont normally get into killing frogs. The other aspect is that this species is rarely ever seen by average Joe. They only come out during rains after a long dry spell, mate, lay eggs and burrow back down again. They may be active for a few nights in that period, but thats pretty well it. Larval development is directly proportional to water levels and temperature, they can take literally months to finish development or it can be a matter of only a few weeks in a rapidly evaportaing ephemeral pool.

I also should add that they are highly variable in colour and can actually be quite colourful, hence the name, this is probably one of the plainest ones I've ever photographed.

Ah well that's good! I kind of assumed cane toads had infiltrated everywhere by now. Hope they never reach you!
I know up here and in northern new south wales where I grew up, no one would think twice about hitting it with dettol.
The people I know love their frogs, and so try to get rid of the toads. Because if you have toads, you don't have any green tree frogs untill they go. That coupled with the danger to family pets (and for me, all the birds and snakes who might snap one up) means that people go on hunts around their yards at night and spray any hoppy which isn't green.
Some people know a bit more than others, like if it's lying flat it's a frog... I get right in their faces just to make sure... but I don't think most would bother to double check, or even find out if there were frogs which WERN'T green.

Anyway, do you have any photos of these other painted frogs? I'd love to see them

[Nephrurus]

They are also highly endangered in NSW (there is one record of them crossing the border).

-H

[Mark Newton]

Originally Posted by Nephrurus

They are also highly endangered in NSW (there is one record of them crossing the border).

-H

.....and I'll bet it was stopped and questioned.......

[Corwin]

Very cool Mark. Thanks for sharing.

[Dragon1]

It's got beautiful eyes.

Dragon1