A newly discovered frog species found in Australia

Biologists discovered a new species of the tree frog genus and redescribed another Litrea Living on the Australian continent.

Litrea The large genus of tree frogs native to Australia, including the Bismarck Islands, the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, the Lesser Sunda Islands and the Moluccan Islands.

This genus contains approximately 100 species and belongs to the monomorphic subfamily liriinae within the family Perodridae family.

A newly discovered species named Eungella Whirring Frog (Litoria eungellensis) and lives only 20km² The cool Montertaine temperature forests in Queensland's Enguera Mountains are above 900 m above sea level.

This frog is separated by several hundred km from its nearest relative.Litrea Kolbeni).

These two species survive only in isolated, cool, humid, high altitude environments, with few opportunities to shift their habitat as temperatures rise.

“The 'adapt or corruption' mantra does not apply equally to a species,” said Professor Michael Mahony of Newcastle University.

“The frogs are literally running out of space. They are nowhere to be left because the climate model is isolated on the summit to predict warm, dry conditions.”

Dr. Luke Price, a researcher at the Museum of South Australia, said:

“Wet tree frogs only occur in wet forest habitats, and therefore occupy the wet forest habitats interconnected along a large divisional range from northeastern New South Wales to Tablelands in Atherton. I'm sure he was. Current experience.”

“We're not talking about climate warming related to human influences or greenhouse effects, we're talking about much older changes related to continental movements and global meteorological distribution.”

Researchers have also revealed this Litoria eungellensis and Litrea KolbeniDespite its similar appearance, the bright mustard yellowish body with red spots hidden behind the legs – has evolved separately for at least 1.5 million years.

The subtle differences in mating calls and genetic analysis confirmed their distinct evolutionary pathways.

“Litoria eungellensis Currently, it holds the enviable title of one of Australia's top 10 frogs.

“Species that are limited to such small areas face immeasurable risks, from wildfires to pollution events. One catastrophic event has managed to wipe them out completely.”

“The observation that species are confined to isolated patches of high-altitude cool rainforest habitat suggests that they are already living at biological limits, and due to climate warming, species are in the form of a sinus. There's no place to enlarge or move around.”

“A similar situation occurs Litrea Kolbenibut it is slightly larger. ”

Both species meet the United Nations for conservation standards for listed as Critical at riskmainly due to their limited distribution and the increased threat of climate change.

“These frogs already live at biological limits,” Professor Mahoney said.

“Their survival depends on active conservation efforts, as there is no place to move.”

On the other hand, it's more broad Litrea Reverata It appears to be less threatened when seen in New South Wales and southeast Queensland.

But the obvious stability of Litrea Reverata His assessment of no formal surveillance of this kind and not threatened may be more so because it is based solely on observations from interested biologists and community scientists,” said Dr. Price. I did.

The findings highlight the urgent need to understand and mitigate the impact of climate change on vulnerable species.

“We need to realize that not all species can adapt quickly enough,” Professor Mahoney said.

“Target conservation and habitat protection are essential to prevent these unique frogs from disappearing forever.”

Survey results It will be displayed in the journal Zootaxa.

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Luke C. Price et al. 2025. Systematic evaluation of molecular genetic, morphological and acoustic variation reveals three species Litrea Reverata Complexes (Anal: Perodridae). Zootaxa 5584(3):301-338; doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5584.3.1