The armoured frog (''Ranoidea lorica''), or armoured mist 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 suborder have given rise to treefrogs, although they are not clos ...

in the torrent frog complex, a group restricted to north-eastern

Queensland, Australia Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, ...

Taxonomy

The armoured mist frog is one of the four species of Australian torrent treefrogs that comprise the '' Ranoidea nannotis'' species group. The other species are the mountain mist frog, waterfall frog, and common mist frog.

Description

''R. lorica'' is a small

, growing up to in length. It is grey or grey-brown on the dorsal surface and white on the ventral surface. The skin is tubercular on the dorsal surface, prominently on the

eyelid An eyelid ( ) is a thin fold of skin that covers and protects an eye. The levator palpebrae superioris muscle retracts the eyelid, exposing the cornea to the outside, giving vision. This can be either voluntarily or involuntarily. "Palpebral ...

s and around the tympanum. Fingers are half webbed and toes are fully webbed, both having well-developed discs. The tympanum is small and indistinct, and a vocal sac is not present. Males have black, spiny

nuptial pad A nuptial pad (also known as thumb pad, or nuptial excrescence) is a secondary sex characteristic present on some mature male frogs and salamanders. Triggered by androgen hormones, this breeding gland (a type of mucous gland) appears as a spike ...

s on their thumbs and "accessory spines" on their chests. These spines are used in

amplexus Amplexus (Latin "embrace") is a type of Mating, mating behavior exhibited by some External fertilization, externally fertilizing species (chiefly amphibians, Amphipoda, amphipods, and horseshoe crabs) in which a male grasps a female with his fro ...

by the males to attain a better grip on the females.

Distribution

This species was first discovered in 1976 and is known from four localities: Alexandra Creek, Hilda Creek (

Cape Tribulation Cape Tribulation is a headland and coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas in northern Queensland, Australia. In the , Cape Tribulation had a population of 123 people. Geography The locality is north of Cairns. It is within the Daintree N ...

NP), Roaring Meg Cascades, and Mossman Bluff Creek ( Daintree NP), north-eastern Queensland—between in altitude—and the historical extent of the species only was . Despite once being relatively common, the armoured frog has fallen into rapid decline, and was not seen from 1991 until 2008, when a small population was rediscovered and confirmed to be of this species.'Extinct' Frogs Survive Devastating Fungus
CNN (2008-09-11)

Behaviour and ecology

This species is associated with fast-flowing creeks and

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

s in rainforests in northern Queensland. The call for this species is unknown, but is likely to be similar to that of the closely related waterfall frog, (''Litoria nannotis'').

Tadpole A tadpole or polliwog (also spelled pollywog) is the Larva, larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully Aquatic animal, aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial animal, ...

s of this species are undescribed, although they would theoretically look similar to those of ''L. nannotis''–with a large oral disc and a streamlined body, an adaptation to fast-flowing streams.

Conservation status

This species, along with '' Taudactylus rheophilus'', ''

Taudactylus acutirostris The sharp snouted day frog (''Taudactylus acutirostris''), or sharp-nosed torrent frog, is an extinct species of frog in the family Myobatrachidae. It was endemic to upland rainforest streams in north-eastern Queensland in Australia. Description ...

'', and some closely related species (including ''Litoria nannotis'', '' Litoria nyakalensis'', and '' Litoria rheocola'') have also declined in flowing creeks in highland

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

s in the same general area inhabited by ''L. lorica'' around the early 1990s. The reason for decline of these species is not known, but the disease caused by

chytrid Chytridiomycota are a division of zoosporic organisms in the kingdom (biology), kingdom Fungi, informally known as chytrids. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek ('), meaning "little pot", describing the structure containing unreleased zo ...

fungus may be a factor. The relocated population was found to be infected with the fungus, but seems to have acquired some degree of resistance. It is listed as Critically Endangered 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 an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

, and as Endangered 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 ...

References

External links

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Litoria lorica
at CalPhotos {{Taxonbar, from=Q307249 Ranoidea (genus) Amphibians of Queensland Critically endangered fauna of Australia Nature Conservation Act endangered biota Amphibians described in 1979 Frogs of Australia