Limnodynastidae

Dull grey to olive brown or reddish-brown above with a symmetrical series of blackish or dark brown blotches - one on the head commencing between the eyes, one on either side of the back above the shoulders.

Nocturnal. Found above the ground only after rain, or on humid evenings. Call - a series of owl like 'whoo-oos'. The breeding colony moves slightly each rainy night & concentrates on a different area of the swamp, probably to increase the chances of survival of the eggs. A protracted monsoon will mean a better egg coverage of the breeding habitat.

Forest, Woodland, open forest. Northern parts of NT and adjacent parts of WA and northwestern Queensland. Sparsely timbered savannah and sclerophyll woodland. However they only occur in swampy, poorly drained woodland areas with shallow (poor) gravelly or sandy soils, often underlain by laterite. They are generally headwater areas of creek systems. There are more tussock grasses than trees & these areas remain very wet throughout the wet season. The tree species include Melaleuca viridiflora, M. nervosa, Grevillea pteridifolia, Verticordia cunninghamii & Acacia spp. The frogs occur in loose colonies & burrow into the sandy soil during the daytime. They share this habitat with other ground-dwelling frog species like Crinia bilingua and Uperoleia innundata (Floodplain Toadlet).

Elizabeth Valley Case Study Jan/Feb 2000 Three pairs of frogs, collected some hours before on the same night, spawned in an aquarium. The adult frogs were then released. The eggs are large (6mm) and laid in loose clusters. They sink to the bottom of the shallow water. They may easily be carried by flowing water in the case of heavy monsoon 22nd Jan The eggs began hatching. Tadpoles very thin at first. 23rd Jan Eggs still hatching - tadpoles all hanging vertically in the water on grass, etc 24th Jan All eggs hatched. Adults continuing to call (breeding) in the swamp 25th Jan The hatchlings are about three times the size they were when they hatched. Monsoon weather 1 Feb Tadpoles now quite solid, light brown colour, making them difficult to see from above. Feeding on vegetable material 15th Feb Back legs appear. Tadpoles now averaging 4 - 5 cm, light brown above, bronzy-pink around the abdomen 21st Feb Front legs appear

The breeding colony moves slightly each rainy night & concentrates on a different area of the swamp, probably to increase the chances of survival of the eggs. A protracted monsoon will mean a better egg coverage of the breeding habitat. Fish, dragon fly larvae & water beetles are all known to devour the eggs. The young tadpoles have even more enemies. The adult frogs puff themselves up with air when confronted with an enemy till they are totally round, hence the name of Golfball Frog. They are also capable of exuding a white, sticky latex-like substance from pores in their back & this no doubt has a strong deterrent effect on frog-eating snakes like the Keelback & Common Tree-snake. Breeding takes place during & after heavy monsoon rain at night. Males find a suitable location a meter or more from the nearest neighbour in about 10cm of water & begin calling. Most males call while floating spreadeagled in the water, inflated to almost twice their normal size & form one of the most spectacular acoustic choruses of any Top End frog. They ‘whoop’ in unison to form a sound pulse which can be heard for more than a kilometre through the woodlands. If an enemy approaches the colony during a chorus, the males deflate & crouch or swim underwater till the danger is past. The females then find their way to the males & amplex while floating. Once in amplexus they will ignore a potential enemy. The full breeding cycle takes only one month (similar to the arid zone relatives) & the young frogs begin feeding heavily on soft-bodied insects till the rains stop. Rain brings them up each night & if there is no rain, very few frogs appear. There are usually several monsoon events each wet season. The colony may finish breeding before the last monsoon event & concentrate on feeding.

Kakadu National Park Keep River National park

Carnivore, Insects.