Frogs of Australia

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Key guide to Victorian frogs

The Frogs of Victoria project is retained only for the great key guide. Work through a series of questions until, finally, your frog is identified.

Key guide

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Pseudophryne bibroni

Bibron's Toadlet

Also: Brown Brood Frog, Brown Toadlet

+ 39 kb Bibron's Toadlet (Pseudophryne bibroni)

A small and secretive autumn-breeding frog found across much of south-eastern Australia. Like all members of its genus this frog tends to walk rather than hop.

Distribution and habitat

Distribution map for Pseudophryne bibroni

Adults frequent dry forest, woodland, shrubland and grassland. They shelter under leaflitter and other debris in moist soaks and depressions. Eggs are spawned in shallow burrows (or nests) under litter, in low areas, near water, that will later be flooded. Tadpoles are aquatic in ponds, flooded grassland and roadside ditches.

There is a detailed distribution map available for: Victoria.

Calling

Males call from within the nest or burrow, producing a short harsh grating "cre-ek" repeated every few seconds.

Life cycle

Distinguishing characteristics

Pseudophryne bibroni Adult length: 22-23mm.
Between 70 and 200 pigmented eggs are spawned in loose clumps often coated in soil or mud. Tadpoles are dark brown and the clear fins are finely flecked with black or brown. Adults are mid to dark brown with a coarsely marbled underside of black and white and have a pair of boomerang-shaped ridges over the shoulder.

Visible features

Presented here is the information stored in the frogs.org.au database which is used to identify frogs based on their appearance. It is intended to be used in a key guide for separating species so some of the information (for example, back colours) may be rather non-specific. The system is currently being developed - if you notice errors in the data, please write to Dave Black at the address at the bottom of the page.

Important note: This information details only the appearance of the frog. If an "or" appears in the description, this may mean either that there is some variation within the species or that the feature might be observed differently by different people. For example, if a frog has very small toe pads, it may be listed as having "Toe pads: present or absent".

Size

Up to less than 30mm

Eyes, hands, and feet

Pupils: horizontal

Toe pads: absent

Webbing on feet: no webbing

Belly

Texture: smooth

Pattern: marbled

Colour: multi-coloured with only black, grey, and white

Back

Texture: smooth or warty

Pattern: plain

Colour: single colour

Glands and tubercles

Parotoid gland: absent

Tibial gland: absent

Metatarsal tubercles: absent

Similar species (note: this version was written for Victorian species).

Distinguished from most other frogs by the coarse black and white marbling on its undersurface, Bibron's Toadlet can be distinguished from Pseudophryne semimarmorata by the absence of orange or yellow on its underside, and from Pseudophryne dendyi by the pair of boomerang-shaped ridges over the shoulder.