Kroombit tinkerfrog
Kroombit tinkerfrog ©H. Hines
Common name: Kroombit tinkerfrog
Scientific name: Taudactylus pleione
Queensland legislative status: The Kroombit tinkerfrog is classified as 'Endangered' under the Nature Conservation Act 1992.
Endemicity: Queensland endemic
Description: The Kroombit tinkerfrog is a small frog with a snout-vent length between 25 and 31mm. The frog is reddish brown to grey dorsally with darker brown flecks, spots and blotches. There is a prominent broad bar of approximately uniform width between the eyes, a roughly X-shaped blotch between the shoulders, broad lateral bands and a bar or blotch either side of the groin. A broad dark streak extends from the snout through the eye and ear. Limbs and fingers have conspicuous dark cross-bars and fingers are not webbed. The posterior surface of the thighs is dirty yellow, with brown bars and specks. The ventral surface is translucent grey with dense cream and brown mottling and speckling. The larvae have never been seen.
Call: The call consists of a regularly repeated series of metallic 'tinks', each series lasting 2-4 seconds, then repeated at intervals of 3-10 seconds.
Tadpole: No tadpoles or eggs have been found despite intensive searches of standing water, leaf litter and rocky seepages.
Reproduction: The Kroombit tinkerfrog has been heard calling from September until early March, with peaks in calling most likely on warm nights between December and February. There is virtually no information on the female breeding cycle and eggs oviposition (where they lay their eggs) and tadpoles have not been described.
Habitat: This species has only been recorded in small, narrow, isolated patches of gully rainforest where it is found amongst or under rocks and leaf litter in the vicinity of permanent and ephemeral rocky seepage zones. Vegetation in this habitat is dominated by coachwood Ceratopetalum apetalum, piccabeen palm Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, with emergent hoop pine Araucaria cunninghamii. Wet sclerophyll species including Eucalyptus saligna and brush box Lophostemon confertus, occur along rainforest margins where they are co-dominant but are replaced by drier forest eucalypts away from rainforest edges. Latest sites found are primarily in piccabeen palm closed forest with emergent hoop pine. A few calling males have been found in adjacent eucalypt woodland with rainforest elements in the ground stratum. It is not known if these are the only habitats suitable for the species.
Distribution: The Kroombit tinkerfrog is currently known from only eight small patches of suitable habitat at Kroombit Tops NP west of Miriam Vale in south-east Queensland. The eight populations are estimated to be scattered within an area of about 1300 hectares.
Threatening processes: This species is potentially vulnerable to the unknown causal agent(s) that have resulted in the decline or disappearance of several species of frogs including four of the six Taudactylus species from rainforest streams in Queensland over the last 15 years. It is likely to be susceptible to trampling and increased nutrient loads resulting from grazing in and upstream of habitat areas. Trampling may also alter the hydrology of seepage areas. The tinkerfrog is also very likely to be susceptible to predation and habitat destruction by pigs. At present pigs are not known from any of the sites occupied by T. pleione although they are known from areas less than 2km away. Fire may also threaten populations of the Kroombit tinkerfrog.
Management recommendations:
- Removal of feral and domestic cattle and horses from all known and potential habitats.
- Protection of habitat from wildfire through a program of planned burns with minimum physical disturbance (e.g. fire control lines).
- Ongoing population monitoring at sites.
- Research exploring all aspects of the ecology of T. pleione, particularly the breeding biology, is needed to better understand this species.
Further reading:
Tyler, M.J. The Action Plan for Australian Frogs 1997. Department of Environment and Heritage, Canberra.
Recovery plan for stream frogs of south-east Queensland 2001-2005
Last updated: 31 August 2006