Their call is a “creaky door” sort of sound, often with many following each other, as these frogs live in colonies and answer the other toadlets calls.

Breeding takes place in damp leaf litter, near streams that only flow after heavy rain. They lay between 15 and 30 eggs in a clutch. When a heavy rain does come, the eggs are washed into the puddles that form. They will metamorphose in between one and four months.

Belonging to the Family Myobatrachidae, Red-crowned Toadlets are a threatened species, mainly as a result of human activity. Here are two examples:

• Pollution
  The streams they breed in are often runoff from roadsides. This often is polluted water, and it can harm or even kill them.
  
• Housing
  This can affect them, especially if houses are built on the slope directly below an escarpment, as this is where the frogs mainly live.

We can help protect this rare frog by not littering or removing bush-rocks, as this is shelter for them, as well as for the small insects they eat.

Interesting Facts!
These frogs are called “toadlets” because they crawl rather than hop, and also are “warty” like true toads. There are no true toads native to Australia.

Author: Katrina Leel
Photos: Katrina Leel © 2004