Tusked frog | Redland City Council

Scientific name: Adelotus brevis

Status

  • Queensland: Vulnerable (NCA 1992)

Description

This medium-sized frog measures up to 50 mm in length, with males being larger and more robust than females (males 34-50mm; females 29-38mm). The tusked frog has rough, warty grey, beige or brown skin with orange-red patches in the groin and on the hind legs. Females lay un-pigmented eggs (between 148 and 638) in a foam nest hidden from the light. Tadpoles usually develop fully within 71 days.

Where is it found?

Tusked frogs are widespread in lower elevation coastal areas and foothills in South East Queensland. They breed in ponds, wet forest (altitudes below 400m), coastal forests and, less commonly, dry open forest (e.g. open eucalypt woodland) as well as dams and ornamental ponds in urban areas. Tusked frog sightings have also been reported in some highly disturbed areas and polluted drainage lines.

What do they eat?

Tusked frogs eat insects, snails and other invertebrates. The forest-living females mainly eat invertebrates that they find in their dry habitat while the males eat more snails as they live closer to the water.

What is threatening them?

  • Habitat loss and degradation
  • Chytridiomycosis
  • Deforestation, cattle grazing and changing fire regimes
  • Predatory fish
  • Spread of weeds
  • Climate change
  • Misidentification of the species resulting in unintentional killing.

Conservation

The tusked frog is protected under the Nature Conservation Act 1992. It is an offence to hurt or interfere with the tusked frog in any other way than when accepted by the Act.

Redland City Council manages environmental pests throughout the Redlands to minimise their impact on native ecosystems and animals such as the tusked frog.

Did you know...?

The tusked frog gets its name from a large pair of teeth in the male’s lower jaw.

How you can help

Be sure of your identification skills when killing cane toads so you don’t accidentally kill a tusked frog.

Report your sighting

If you have seen or suspect you have seen a tusked frog, please report it to Atlas of Living Australia.