The Cooloola sedge frog or Cooloola tree frog (''Litoria cooloolensis'') is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

in the subfamily

Pelodryadinae Pelodryadinae, also known as Australian treefrogs (although not all members are arboreal), is a subfamily of frogs found in the region of Australia and New Guinea, and have also been introduced to New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a g ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to Australia and only known from

Fraser Fraser may refer to: Places Antarctica * Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands Australia * Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen * Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal ...

and

North Stradbroke Island North Stradbroke Island (Janday language, Jandai: ''Minjerribah''), colloquially ''Straddie'' or ''North Straddie'', is an island that lies within Moreton Bay in the Australian state of Queensland, southeast of the centre of Brisbane. Original ...

s, off south-eastern

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Habitat

It inhabits sandy coastal and island freshwater lakes and wallum creeks, with a preference for dense reed beds. It is threatened by water extraction and pollution and by tramping of the reef beds. It occurs in the Great Sandy National Park.

Description

This amphibian's back is yellowish green, speckled with dark spots, and the hidden surfaces of its thighs are orange with a purple-brown stripe. The belly is grainy and white in color. ''L. cooloolensis'', like other members of the genus Litoria, has horizontal irises.

Taxonomy

''Litoria'' ''cooloolensis'' is part of the species-group ''L. bicolor'', which was created to accommodate 7 species from the region that had characteristics in common. The other members of the group are'':'' '' Litoria fallax'' in Australia; '' Litoria bicolor'' in Austrália and Papua New Guine; '' Litoria bibonius, Litoria contrastens'', '' Litoria longicrus'' and '' Litoria mystax'' in Papua New Guine.

References

Litoria Frogs of Australia Endemic fauna of Australia Amphibians of Queensland Amphibians described in 1974 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Pelodryadinae-stub