Northern tinkerfrog
Common name: northern tinkerfrog
Scientific name: Taudactylus rheophilus
Family: Myobatrachidae (Australian water frogs)
Conservation status: This species is listed as Endangered in Queensland (Nature Conservation Act 1992) and nationally (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999). It is considered a low priority under the Department of Environment and Resource Management Back on Track species prioritisation framework.
Description
A small frog, with robust body and truncated snout males 23.8-32 mm and females 24.1-30.5 mm (Liem and Hosmer 1973). The dorsal surface is smooth or finely granular, and may be grey-brown, reddish or dark brown in colour, with irregular darker markings. A narrow pale greyish streak runs from the eye to the groin, bordered below by a broad black band whose lower edge breaks up into a marbled or reticulate pattern on the flanks.
There is a faint, pale transverse bar between the eyes, and a pale glandular patch runs from the angle of the jaws to the base of the forearm. The loreal region is black with some irregular grey markings. The ventral surface is smooth, brown in colour, with conspicuous, irregular, creamy-white markings. The limbs have irregular blackish cross bands, and the digits are barred with dark brown and creamy grey. The tips of the digits have small but conspicuous discs, the toes fringed but without webbing (Liem and Hosmer 1973, Cogger 2000).
Habitat and distribution
The northern tinkerfrog is a cryptic species found under rocks, roots and logs in seepage and trickle areas beside fast-flowing rainforest streams (McDonald 1992). The adults are mainly nocturnal, though they may be active on overcast days.
Historically this species was restricted to four mountain tops at altitudes of 940-1500m within the Wet Tropics from Thornton Peak to Mt Bellenden Ker. This species has undergone a sudden range contraction and had apparently disappeared by October 1991, though it has been recently recorded from Mt Bellenden Ker and Mt Lewis (Marshall 1998, M. Hero pers. comm.). They were found at Latitude: Between 16&186; 10' and 17&186; 16'; and Longitude: Between 145&186; 12' and 145&186; 51'. They were recorded from Wooroonooran and Daintree National Parks.
Life history and behaviour
The call has been variously described as a soft metallic tapping sound, "tink tink tink" repeated 4-5 times in quick succession (Liem and Hosmer 1973, Ingram 1980), or a gentle rattling sound (McDonald 1992). Males form a chorus, calling from under rocks or roots, and may be partly in water (Ingram 1980, K.R. McDonald pers. obs.).
Little is known of its developmental biology, but females can carry 35-50 large (1.8-2.4 mm diameter) eggs (Liem and Hosmer 1973). The tadpole has not been described. Juveniles have been collected in the months of December and May (Liem and Hosmer 1973).
Threatening processes
The northern tinkerfrog is one of seven species of frogs occurring in the upland rainforest streams of north-eastern Queensland which have undergone rapid and substantial population declines (Richards et al 1993). Surveys during 1991-1992, 1993 and 1994 failed to find any individuals (Richards et al. 1993, Trenerry et al. 1994, J.M. Hero pers. comm.).
The causes of the decline remain unknown, Richards et al (1993) found no obvious evidence that drought, floods, habitat destruction or pollution by pesticides, inorganic ions or heavy metals were responsible for the population declines. Current research is examining the possibility that a fungus may have caused the decline of the stream dwelling frogs of the Wet Tropics (Berger et. al. 1999). Information on disease investigations and management can be located at the James Cook University website.
Recovery actions
The recovery plan (PDF, 435K)* makes the following management recommendations for the conservation of stream-dwelling frogs of the Wet Tropics bioregion.
- Monitor historical localities to detect recovery.
- Investigate disease in related species.
- Develop and refine husbandry techniques for rainforest stream dwelling frogs.
- Train park staff and community volunteers in identification of this species.
- Implement monitoring by park staff of select locations within the national park estate where the northern tinkerfrog formerly occurred.
Related information
Hero, JM, and Fickling, S. 1994. A Guide to Stream-Dwelling Frogs of the Wet Tropics Rainforests. Department of Zoology, James Cook University, Townsville.
Ingram, GJ and McDonald, KR 1993. An update on the decline of Queensland's frogs. Pp 297-303 In Lunney, D. and Ayers, D. (eds), 'Herpetology in Australia. A diverse discipline'. Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales: Mosman. 414pp.
McDonald, KR, and Alford, RA 1999. A Review of Declining Frogs in Northern Queensland. Pp14-22. In Campbell, A (ed), 'Declines and Disappearances of Australian frogs'. Environment Australia, Department of the Environment and Heritage: Canberra. 234 pp.
Northern Queensland Threatened Frogs Recovery Team, 2001. Recovery plan for the stream-dwelling rainforest frogs of the Wet Tropics biogeographic region of north-east Queensland 2000-2004 (PDF, 435K)*. Report to Environment Australia, Canberra. Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Brisbane
Reference
Berger, L, Speare, R, and Hyatt, A. 1999. Chytrid fungi and Amphibian declines: Overview, Implications and Future Directions. Pp23-33. In Campbell, A (ed), 'Declines and Disappearances of Australian frogs'.(Environment Australia, Department of the Environment and Heritage: Canberra). 234 pp.
Cogger, HG 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. Reed New Holland, Sydney.
Ingram, G 1980. A new frog of the genus Taudactylus (Myobatrachidae) from mid-eastern Queensland with notes on the other species of the genus. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. 36(1): 111-19.
Liem, DS and Hosmer, W 1973. Frogs of the genus Taudactylus with description of two new species (Anura: Leptodactylidae). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 16(3): 435-457.
Marshall, CJ 1998. The reappearance of Taudactylus (Anura: Myobatrachidae) in north Queensland streams. Pacific Conservation Biology 4:39-41.
McDonald, KR 1992. Distribution patterns and conservation status of north Queensland rainforest frogs. Conservation Technical Report 1., Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage, Brisbane.
Richards, SJ, McDonald, KR, and Alford, RA 1993. Declines in populations of Australia's endemic tropical rainforest frogs. Pacific Conservation Biology 1:66-77.
Trenerry, MP, Laurance, WF, and McDonald, KR 1994. Further evidence for the precipitous decline of endemic rainforest frogs in tropical Australia. Pacific Conservation Biology 1: 150-153.
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Last updated 20 July 2011