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Western Green Tree Frog

February 29, 2012 by · Comments Off on Western Green Tree Frog 

Western Green Tree Frog, A robust, muscular frog with a triangular-shaped head and powerful hindlimbs. The fingers are long and unwebbed and have small but distinct discs on the tips. the toes are long with a moderate extent of webbing between them. The toes are long with a moderate extent of webbing between them. The skin on the back generally bears distinct, isolated tubercles. the colouration is variable and individuals are capable of striking colour changes. The back colour ranges from uniform pale brown or green (uslally with a paler mid-dorsal stripe) to vey pale brown with numberous, clearly defined very dark patches. there is a dark stripe from the tip of the nose to the eye, and behind the eye, through the tympanum to above the interstion of the forearm. The groin and back of the thighs is pale green and lacks the bold, yellow patches seen in the closely related L. cyclorhyncha. Males 53 – 64mm and females 65 – 74mm.

Advertisement call, described by Main as ‘a long, low growl of several parts, not unlike a motor cycle changing gears’. (Up from low to higher gears.)

Breeding biology, eggs are laid in spring to mid-summer. the spawn clump is a large floating mass attached to vegetation. Larvae can be found throughout summer and often metamorphosis is as late as April. Main reports that the tadpoles are ‘uniformly dark, almost black, characterised by deep fins and pointed tip to tail’.

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