''Litoria'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of hylid

tree frog A tree frog (or treefrog) is any species of frog that spends a major portion of its lifespan in trees, known as an arboreal state. Several lineages of frogs among the Neobatrachia suborder have given rise to treefrogs, although they are not clos ...

s, sometimes collectively referred to as Australasian treefrogs.

Description

The species within the genus ''Litoria'' are extremely variable in appearance, behaviour, and

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

. The smallest species is the javelin frog (''L. microbelos''), reaching a maximum snout–to–

vent Vent or vents may refer to: Science and technology Biology *Vent, the cloaca region of an animal *Vent DNA polymerase, a thermostable DNA polymerase Geology *Hydrothermal vent, a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated water ...

length of , while the largest, the giant tree frog (''L. infrafrenata''), reaches a size of . They are distinguishable from other tree frogs by the presence of horizontal irises, no pigmentation of the eyelids, and their distribution east and south from

Wallacea Wallacea is a biogeography, biogeographical designation for a group of mainly list of islands of Indonesia, Indonesian islands separated by deep-water straits from the Asian and Australia (continent), Australian continental shelf, continental ...

. Over one hundred

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

are recognised and new species are still being added, such as the Pinocchio frog discovered in 2008 and described in 2019.Newscientist.com
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Distribution and habitat

The frogs are native to Australia, the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about . History The first inhabitants of the archipela ...

, the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

, the

Lesser Sunda Islands The Lesser Sunda Islands (, , ), now known as Nusa Tenggara Islands (, or "Southeast Islands"), are an archipelago in the Indonesian archipelago. Most of the Lesser Sunda Islands are located within the Wallacea region, except for the Bali pro ...

, and the Moluccan Islands. The appearance, behaviour and habitat of each species are usually linked. The small, dark-coloured frogs are generally terrestrial and never, or infrequently, climb. The larger green species are usually arboreal, with some only venturing to the ground to breed.

Fossils

The oldest fossil of a frog of the ''Litoria'' genus is of †''

Litoria tylerantiqua ''Litoria'' is a genus of Hylidae, hylid tree frogs, sometimes collectively referred to as Australasian treefrogs. Description The species within the genus ''Litoria'' are extremely variable in appearance, behaviour, and habitat. The smallest s ...

'' Farman, Archer &

Hand A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the Koala#Characteristics, koala (which has two thumb#O ...

, 2025 from the Tingamarra fauna of 55 million years ago. Indeterminate ''Litoria'' remains reminiscent of '' L. caerulea'' are known from the

Late Oligocene The Chattian is, in the geologic timescale The geologic time scale or geological time scale (GTS) is a representation of time based on the rock record of Earth. It is a system of chronological dating that uses chronostratigraphy (the pro ...

-aged Etadunna Formation of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. The fossil species †'' Litoria magna'' Tyler, 1991 is known from the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

of the

Riversleigh fauna Riversleigh fauna is the collective term for any species of animal identified in fossil sites located in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area. Faunal zones The presence of the Riversleigh in the Oligo-Miocene has been exceptionally well preserve ...

Species

While some former species have been moved to the genera '' Nyctimystes'' and ''

Ranoidea The Ranoidea are a Taxonomic rank, superfamily of frogs in the order Anura. Members of this superfamily are characterised by having the pectoral girdle fused into a single complex unit, having no ribs, and using an axillary grip during amplexus ...

'', the following are recognised within the genus ''Litoria'': * ''L. adelaidensis'' – slender tree frog * ''L. albolabris'' – Wandolleck's white-lipped tree frog * ''L. amboinensis'' – Horst's tree frog * '' L .amnicola'' – Raja Ampat torrent tree frog * ''L. angiana'' – Angiana tree frog * '' L. aplini'' * ''L. arfakiana'' – Arfakiana tree frog * ''L. aurifera'' – Kimberley rockhole frog * ''L. axillaris'' – Kimberley rocket frog * ''L. azuroscelis'' – Azure-thighed tree frog * '' L. balatus'' * ''L. becki'' – Beck's tree frog * '' L. biakensis'' * '' L. bibonius'' * ''L. bicolor'' – northern dwarf tree frog * ''L. bulmeri'' – Bulmer's tree frog * ''L. burrowsi'' – Tasmanian tree frog * ''L. capitula'' – Samlakki tree frog * '' L. chloristona'' * ''L. chloronota'' – Arfak Mountain tree frog * '' L. chrisdahli'' * '' L. christianbergmanni'' * ''L. congenita'' – Yule Island tree frog * ''L. contrastens'' – Barabuna tree frog * ''L. cooloolensis'' – Cooloola sedge frog, Cooloola tree frog * ''L. coplandi'' – Copland's rock frog * '' L. daraiensis'' – Darai Plateau tree frog * ''L. darlingtoni'' – Darlington's Madang tree frog * ''L. dentata'' – bleating tree frog, Keferstein's tree frog * ''L. dorsalis'' – dwarf rocket frog * ''L. dorsivena'' – eastern mountains tree frog * ''L. electrica'' – buzzing tree frog * ''L. eungellensis'' – Eungella whirring tree frog * '' L. eurynastes'' * ''L. everetti'' – Everett's tree frog * ''L. ewingii'' – brown tree frog * ''L. fallax'' – eastern dwarf tree frog * '' L. flavescens'' * ''L. freycineti'' – Freycinet's frog * '' L. gasconi'' * '' L. gracilis'' – slender spotted tree frog * '' L. haematogaster'' – red-bellied tree frog * '' L. havina'' * '' L. hilli'' * '' L. humboldtorum'' * ''L. inermis'' – bumpy rocket frog * ''L. iris'' – Western Highland tree frog * ''L. jervisiensis'' – Jervis Bay tree frog * ''L. latopalmata'' – broad-palmed frog * ''L. leucova'' – West Sepik tree frog * '' L. lisae'' – Lisa's tree frog * ''L. littlejohni'' – Littlejohn's tree frog * '' L. lodesdema'' * ''L. longicrus'' – Wendessi tree frog * ''L. longirostris'' – long-snouted frog, sharp-snouted frog, scrub rocket frog * '' L. majikthise'' * '' L. mareku'' * '' L. megalops'' * ''L. meiriana'' – rockhole frog * ''L. microbelos'' – javelin frog * ''L. micromembrana'' – Nodugl tree frog * ''L. modica'' – Oruge tree frog * '' L. mucro'' * ''L. multiplica'' – Kassam tree frog * ''L. mystax'' – Moaif tree frog * '' L. naispela'' – Crater Mountain treehole frog * ''L. nasuta'' – striped rocket frog * ''L. nigrofrenata'' – bridled frog * ''L. nigropunctata'' – black-dotted tree frog * ''L. oenicolen'' – Trauna River tree frog * '' L. ollauro'' * ''L. olongburensis'' – wallum sedge frog, Olongburra frog, sharp-snouted reed frog * ''L. pallida'' – pale frog * ''L. paraewingi'' – plains brown tree frog (also red cryptic treefrog, Victoria frog) * ''L. peronii'' – Peron's tree frog, emerald-speckled tree frog, laughing tree frog, maniacal cackle frog * ''L. personata'' – masked frog * ''L. pinocchio'' – Pinocchio frog * ''L. pratti'' * '' L. pronimia'' * ''L. prora'' – Efogi tree frog * ''L. pygmaea'' – Geelvink pygmy tree frog * ''L. quadrilineata'' – lined tree frog * ''L. quiritatus'' – screaming tree frog * ''L. revelata'' – revealed frog, whirring tree frog * '' L. richardsi'' * '' L. rivicola'' * ''L. rothii'' – Roth's tree frog * ''L. rubella'' – desert tree frog * '' L. rubrops'' * '' L. scabra'' * '' L. singadanae'' * '' L. spaldingi'' * '' L. spartacus'' * ''L. staccato'' – chattering rock frog * ''L. timida'' – Menemsorae tree frog * ''L. tornieri'' – Tornier's frog * ''L. tyleri'' – Tyler's tree frog, southern laughing tree frog * ''L. umarensis'' – Umar tree frog * ''L. umbonata'' – Baliem River Valley tree frog * ''L. verae'' – Vera's tree frog * ''L. verreauxii'' – whistling tree frog, Verreaux's tree frog * '' L. viranula'' * ''L. vivissimia'' – montane Pinocchio frog'' * ''L. vocivincens'' – Brown River tree frog * '' L. wapogaensis'' * ''L. watjulumensis'' – Watjulum frog * ''L. watsoni'' – Watson's tree frog * ''L. wisselensis'' – Wissel Lakes tree frog * ''L. wollastoni'' – highland tree frog

References

Bibliography

*Frogs of Australia
Litoria genus
Amphibian Research Centre. * Frogs Australia Networ
search: Litoria
*Cogger, H.G. 1979. ''Reptiles & Amphibians of Australia''. A. H. & A. W. REED PTY LTD * Tyler, Michael J. 1992. ''Encyclopedia of Australian Animals: Frogs''. Angus & Robertson. {{Authority control Amphibian genera Taxa named by Johann Jakob von Tschudi