Red-Crowned Toadlet

Red-Crowned Toadlet ~ Pseudophryne australis

Although this frog is called a toadlet, it is in fact a frog. There are no native toads in Australia. This frog is only found within the Sydney sandstone region to a radius of approx. 150km.

These frogs are hard to see due to their secretive nature and limited habitat. Their breeding sites, during warm months, are dry creek beds with little or no vegetation. When autumn arrives, the frogs return with the rain and lay their eggs under logs and rocks near the edge of the water. The eggs develop in these damp conditions and when rain comes it washes them into the water where the tadpoles, at less than 10mm in length, swim free.

With suitable environmental conditions metamorphosis can occur within a couple of weeks.

The Red-Crowned Toadlet’s call, ‘eeeek eek,’ is repeated at infrequent intervals.