Wild Herps - Desert Tree Frog (Litoria rubella)

Home » order Anura (Frogs and Toads) » family Pelodryadidae (Australian Treefrogs)

Litoria rubella — Desert Tree Frog

Also known as:

Naked Treefrog, Desert Treefrog, Red Tree Frog, Seagull Frog, Little Red Tree Frog, Brown Tree Frog

Eden at Fogg Dam, Northern Territory, Australia—November 12, 2009

Unlike most of Australia’s treefrogs, this species ranges far into the dry interior. But it also makes it up into the tropical areas that we visited.

I’ve written up an account of this three-week trip to Australia here.

Ormiston Gorge, West MacDonnell National Park, Northern Territory, Australia—October 14, 2015

This frog ranges across more than half of Australia, and will no doubt eventually be split into multiple species. It was easy to find dozens of them on the boulders and in the water at Ormiston Gorge.

Ormiston Gorge, West MacDonnell National Park, Northern Territory, Australia—October 15, 2015

This photo is from the following night, at the same spot as the previous photo. I wonder if that one downward-facing frog has been stuck there for at least 24 hours.

Printed references:

Barker, J., Grigg, G. C., Tyler, M. J. 1995. A Field Guide to Australian Frogs
Cogger, H. G. 2014. Reptiles & Amphibians of Australia, Seventh Edition