Species details
Rawlinsonia sibilus (Kangaroo Island Tree Frog)
Family: PELODRYADIDAE
Size range: They are 25-43 mm long.
Regions: Kangaroo Island
Description: Kangaroo Island Tree Frogs have a light silvery grey to copper body with dark burnt brown patches edged in black along the middle of the back. They are slender, medium-sized frogs with a broad head and rounded snout. There is also a narrow dark stripe from the snout to the shoulder and a pale stripe beneath the eye. The back of the thighs are orange-pink, usually with small black spots or splotches. Their fingers are free of webbing and their toes are partially webbed. Breeding males may have a throat sac and a nuptial pad on the thumb (nuptial pads are skin spines that occur during the breeding season). The tympanum, or ear, is distinct .
Habitat: The Kangaroo Island Tree Frog is the only tree frog found on Kangaroo Island. It has been recorded throughout the island in ponds, dams, creeks and wetlands.
Call description: Their call is a fast 'cree creee creee creee creeeee' of between 8 and 11 notes that can be heard in any month of the year. They call from the ground or low vegetation.
Breeding behaviour: Kangaroo Island Tree Frogs deposit their eggs in small clumps attached to submerged vegetation.
Interesting facts: Kangaroo Island Tree Frogs were considered the same species as the Brown Tree Frog (Rawlinsonia ewingii) until a research paper published in Feb 2024 highlighted differences in physical characteristics, genetics and call structure which elevated them to a species in their own right.
