Pearson's green tree frog (''Ranoidea pearsoniana''), also known as the Cascade tree frog, is a species of

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 have given rise to treefrogs, although they are not closely rela ...

inhabiting rainforest creeks from north of

Lismore, New South Wales Lismore is a city in northeastern New South Wales, Australia and the main population centre in the City of Lismore local government area; it is also a regional centre in the Northern Rivers region of the State. It is situated on a low flood pla ...

, to

Kenilworth, Queensland Kenilworth is a rural town and locality in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Kenilworth had a population of 558 people. Geography Kenilworth is in the heart of the Mary Valley area of the Sunshine Coast ...

, with a disjunct population at

Kroombit Tops Kroombit Tops is a national park in Central Queensland, Australia. It is between Monto and Calliope. It is two parts. The largest part is within the localities of Tablelands, Valentine Plains, Cania and Boyne Valley, while the smaller part ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia.

Taxonomy

The mountain stream tree frog may be

conspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organ ...

to Pearson's green tree frog. Morphological differences have not been fully studied yet, but visible physical differences between frogs from

Barrington Tops Barrington Tops is part of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales, Australia, between Gloucester and Scone. In 1934, the area was difficult to access and was described as being "not traceable to any man-made feature". Part of the area ha ...

and

Dorrigo, New South Wales Dorrigo, a small town on the Waterfall Way, is located on the Northern Tablelands, in northern New South Wales, Australia. The town is part of Bellingen local government area. It is approximately north of the state capital, Sydney via the ...

, in comparison to frogs from south-eastern

and northern New South Wales are discussed in a key on the

leaf green tree frog The leaf green tree frog (''Ranoidea phyllochroa'') is a species of stream-dwelling frog, native to eastern Australia from the Queensland/New South Wales border south to Sydney. Description This is a fairly small species of tree frog, up to ab ...

page. These are representative of frogs described as ''R. barringtonensis'' and ''R. pearsoniana''.

Description

Pearson's tree frog is a small tree frog growing up to 45 mm in length. Its dorsal surface can range from completely light green, to a mixture of green and brown, or mostly brown in colour. Usually, black dots are scattered over the dorsal surface, but in some specimens, these dots may not occur. The belly is white or off white. A light brown/yellow stripe starts at the tip of the snout, across the nostril, eye, and tympanum, and then widens and dissipates over the shoulder. This line is underlined with a thicker dark brown line. The tympanum of this species is brown or mostly brown, not green. The tadpoles of the ''R. phyllochroa'' complex (''R. phyllochroa'',

southern leaf green tree frog The southern leaf green tree frog (''Ranoidea nudidigitus'') is a species of tree frog native to coastal areas and the ranges of south-eastern Australia. It is distributed from just south of Sydney to eastern Victoria. Description ''Ranoidea n ...

, ''R. barringtonensis'' and ''R. pearsoniana'') are very similar in appearance and are difficult to tell apart; range is the best method for distinguishing tadpoles.

Ecology and behaviour

This species inhabits flowing creeks in rainforests and wet sclerophyll forests in highland and coastal areas. Males call from creek-side vegetation during spring and summer. The call is an "eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-ehk", with the sounds getting faster towards the end of the call, almost forming a trill. The taxonomy of this species and the mountain stream tree frog is currently under review.

Conservation status

It is listed as Least Concern on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

, but under Queensland's

Nature Conservation Act 1992 The ''Nature Conservation Act 1992'' is an act of the Parliament of Queensland, Australia, that, together with subordinate legislation, provides for the legislative protection of Queensland's threatened biota. As originally published, it prov ...

, it is considered Endangered.

References

* Anstis, M. 2002. Tadpoles of South-eastern Australia. Reed New Holland: Sydney. * Robinson, M. 2002. A Field Guide to Frogs of Australia. Australian Museum/Reed New Holland: Sydney.
Frogs Australia Network

EPA Profile
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1848458 Ranoidea (genus) Amphibians of Queensland Amphibians of New South Wales Nature Conservation Act endangered biota Amphibians described in 1961 Frogs of Australia