About
All individuals of the beautiful nursery frog are found in one location, Thornton Peak in Queensland, Australia, above 1,100 metres above sea level.
This species is part of the Microhylid frog family and molecular data has shown that the initial divergence of the Microhylidae family to have taken place about 66 millions of years ago, or immediately after the Cretaceous extinction event.
The species is listed as Critically Endangered as the area in which it occurs is less than 10km². The main threat to this species is habitat degradation as a result of human impacts associated with ecotourism and infrastructure development for tourism. Climate change is predicted to have the largest negative impact on this species in the future. The range of this species is wholly within the Daintree National Park in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.
- Order: Anura
- Family: Microhylidae
- Population: Abundant
- Trend: stable
- Size: 25mm
EDGE Score
Distribution
This species is endemic to Australia and is found at elevations above 1,100 metres above sea level on Thornton Peak, in north-eastern Queensland.
Habitat and Ecology
This is a terrestrial species that inhabits rainforest and boulder fields at high elevation and is often found in leaf-litter on the forest floor. It calls from tree trunks, logs and bushes and breeds by direct development whereby young bypass the larval stage and emerge from the egg as miniature adults. The eggs are unpigmented and are laid in a string under rocks, or logs in moist soil.