Rockhole frog

The rockhole frog, Australian cross-banded tree frog or skipping frog (Litoria meiriana) is a small frog from Australia.[1][2] It lives in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.[3][4]

Rockhole frog
Litoria meiriana.jpg
Conservation status
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Pelodryadidae
Genus: Litoria
Species:
L. meiriana
Binomial name
Litoria meiriana
(Tyler, 1969)
Litoria meiriana map-fr.svg
Synonyms[1]
  • Hyla meiriana (Tyler, 1969)
  • Litoria meiriana (Tyler, 1971)
  • Mahonabatrachus meiriana (Wells and Wellington, 1985)

Male adult frogs are about 2 cm long and females are 2.2 cm long.[3] They have webbed hind feet but their front feet are not webbed. Some are dark brown with dark green spots and some are less clear. Some have spots on their thighs. Some have white spots near their eyes.[2]

They live near permanent bodies of water and do not like puddles or vernal pools that dry up. They live in holes in rocks and sometimes in caves or near waterfalls. They are so light that they can skip on the surface of the water like a skipping stone.[2]

They lay eggs in pools near the bottoms of tall rocks, 30–40 eggs at a time.[3]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Litoria meiriana (Tyler, 1969)". Amphibian Species of the World 6.0, an Online Reference. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Rockhole Frog". Western Australia Museum. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 J-M Hero; et al. (April 5, 2002). "Rockhole Frog". Amphibiaweb. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  4. Jean-Marc Hero; Paul Horner; Dale Roberts (2004). "Litoria meiriana". 2004. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: e.T41098A10389677. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T41098A10389677.en. Retrieved June 8, 2020. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)