The northern sandhill frog (''Arenophryne rotunda'') is a small,

fossorial A fossorial () animal is one adapted to digging which lives primarily, but not solely, underground. Some examples are badgers, naked mole-rats, clams, meerkats, and mole salamanders, as well as many beetles, wasps, and bees. Prehistoric e ...

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" '' Triadobatrachus'' is ...

native to a small region of the

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

n coast. It was formerly considered the sole species within the genus ''Arenophryne'' until the first decade of the 2000s, when a new species of frog called the

southern sandhill frog ''Arenophryne xiphorhyncha'', the southern sandhill frog, is a fossorial anuran found in a limited range of far western Australia. The only congener to ''A. xiphorhynca'' is the northern sandhill frog, ''Arenophryne rotunda'', which was consider ...

was discovered about 100 kilometres from Geraldton, Western Australia in

Kalbarri National Park Kalbarri National Park is located north of Perth, in the Mid West region of Western Australia. The major geographical features of the park include the Murchison River gorge which runs for nearly on the lower reaches of the Murchison River. Sp ...

and given the scientific name ''Arenophryne xiphorhyncha''.

Description

The northern sandhill frog is a small, rotund frog, reaching a maximum length of 33 millimetres (1.3 in). It is a burrowing frog, and has short, strong legs. The dorsal surface is mottled in colour, from dark grey and white to pale brown. It is covered in small warts and ridges. It also has small, bright red or green, patches on its back. The

ventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

surface is a dull white. The head is small, and triangular in shape, and the body is flat. The tympanum is not visible

Ecology and behaviour

The sandhill frogs are one of the more peculiar of the Australian ground frogs, family

Myobatrachidae Myobatrachidae, commonly known as Australian ground frogs or Australian water frogs, is a family of frogs found in Australia and New Guinea. Members of this family vary greatly in size, from species less than long, to the second-largest frog ...

. Most of the Australian burrowing frogs burrow backwards; only the sandhill frog and the turtle frog (''Myobatrachus gouldii'') burrow head first. To achieve this, both frogs have small heads and strong arms. The sandhill frog inhabits coarse-grained

sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

s on the coast of Western Australia, ranging from

Shark Bay Shark Bay ( Malgana: ''Gathaagudu'', "two waters") is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/world/shark-bay area is located approximately north of Perth, on the ...

in the north,

in the south and Cooloomia in the east. They inhabit an area which does not have much free-standing water, as it is quickly absorbed into the sand. However, the sand becomes moist at a relatively shallow depth. During the day, the sandhill frog will avoid desiccation by burrowing into the moist layer of the sand, emerging at night to hunt. (Hogan et al. 2012) Their

diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

primarily consists of

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22,0 ...

s. During March and April, the males will call from above or below the surface of the

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a soil texture, textur ...

. The male and female will burrow together. As the dry season dries out the sand, the frogs will continue to dig further to remain in the wet layer. They may reach depths of 80 centimetres (2.6 ft). They will lay a maximum of eleven

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

underground, where they undergo direct development, and bypass the

tadpole A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found ...

stage. The adult frogs will remain underground for at least five months.

References

* Database entry includes a range map and a brief justification of why this species is of least concern * C.Michael Hogan, J.M.Hero & J.D.Roberts. 2012
Species account for ''Arenophryne rotunda''
ed. Michelle Koo. AmphibiaWeb. * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1651192 Myobatrachidae Amphibians of Western Australia Shark Bay Amphibians described in 1976 Frogs of Australia Endemic fauna of Southwest Australia