southern corroboree frog
{{Short description|Species of amphibian}}
{{speciesbox
| name = Southern corroboree frog
| image = CorroboreeFrog.jpg
| status =CR
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Pseudophryne
| species = corroboree
| authority =Moore, 1953
| range_map =
| range_map_caption =
}}
The southern corroboree frog (Pseudophryne corroboree) is a species of Australian ground frog native to southeastern Australia.{{cite web|url=https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/Pseudophryne_corroboree|title=Species Pseudophryne corroboree Moore, 1953 |author=Australian Biological Resources Study|date=20 March 2013 |work=Australian Faunal Directory|publisher=Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Australian Government|access-date=25 March 2022|location=Canberra, Australian Capital Territory}}
The species was described in 1953 by Fulbright research scholar John A. Moore from a specimen collected at Towong Hill Station at Corryong, Victoria, and sent to the Australian Museum. The curator, Roy Kinghorn, recognised it as a new species and allowed Moore to describe it.{{cite journal|last1=Moore|first1= J. A.|date= 1953| url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34949149 |title= A new species of Pseudophryne from Victoria|journal= Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales |volume=78|issue=3–4|pages= 179–180}}
Description
Adult female southern corroboree frogs are {{cvt|26|-|31|mm}} long, while males measure {{cvt|22|-|29|mm}};{{cite book |last1=Tyler |first1=Michael |title=Field Guide to the Frogs of Australia |date=2020 |publisher=CSIRO Publishing |isbn=9781486312474 |page=144}} both bear vivid yellow and black stripes across the head, back, and limbs. The body and head are short and wide, the snout has a slight point, and the fingers and toes lack webbing. The iris is black. The northern corroboree frog has narrower and more greenish-yellow striping.
Habitat and conservation
The southern corroboree frog is native to Kosciuszko National Park in the northern Snowy Mountains, where it found at locales between the Maragle Range and Smiggin Holes.{{cite web |last1=Office of the Environment & Heritage |title=Southern Corroboree Frog - profile |url=https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10693 |website=Threatened Species |publisher=Australian Government| date=7 June 2021 |access-date=30 March 2022}} Reported as abundant during the 1970s,{{cite book |last1=Swan |first1=Michael |title=Frogs and Reptiles of the Murray-Darling Basin A Guide to Their Identification, Ecology and Conservation |date=2020 |publisher=CSIRO Publishing |isbn=9781486311330 |pages=41, 67}} it declined drastically during the 1980s from chytridiomycosis.{{cite journal |last1=Mcfadden | first1= Michael |last2=Hobbs | first2=Raelene |last3=Marantelli | first3= Gerry |last4=Harlow | first4=Peter |last5=Banks | first5=Chris |last6=Hunter | first6= David |title=Captive management and breeding of the Critically Endangered Southern Corroboree Frog (Pseudophryne corroboree) (Moore 1953) at Taronga and Melbourne Zoos |journal=Amphibian & Reptile Conservation |date=2011 |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=70–87 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/178794}} The species are critically endangered, with the wild population thought to number around 30 individuals.{{cite web | last=Proust | first=Keira | title=Critically endangered southern corroboree frog conservation efforts ramp up | website=ABC News| publisher= Australian Broadcasting Corporation | date=30 March 2022 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-14/southern-corroboree-frogs-released-in-kosciuszko-national-park/100906238 | access-date=25 March 2022}} The natural habitat is sphagnum bog at elevations greater than {{cvt|1200|m}}.
Efforts to conserve the species have included establishing captive breeding programs across four institutions: the Amphibian Research Centre in 1997, Melbourne Zoo in 2001, Taronga Zoo in 2006, and Healesville Sanctuary in 2007. By 2018, there were over 400 southern corroboree frogs in zoos.{{cite book |first1=Stephen |last1=Garnett|first2= John |last2=Woinarski|first3= David |last3=Lindenmayer|first4=Peter|last4= Latch |title=Recovering Australian Threatened Species: A Book of Hope |date=2018 |publisher=CSIRO Publishing |isbn=9781486307425 |pages=281–284 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sdFNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA281}}
Five breeding enclosures have established in Kosciuszko National Park. Two-thirds of the frogs in these perished in the 2019–20 Australian bushfires. In 2022, a further 100 frogs were released from captive breeding programs.
References
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{{Taxonbar|from=Q2296149}}
Category:Amphibians of New South Wales