Species details
Litoria sibilus (Kangaroo Island Tree Frog)
Family: HYLIDAE
Size range: They are 25-43 mm long.
Regions: Kangaroo Island
Description: Kangaroo Island Tree Frogs have a light silvery grey to copper body with dark burnt brown patches edged in black along the middle of the back. They are slender, medium-sized frogs with a broad head and rounded snout. There is also a narrow dark stripe from the snout to the shoulder and a pale stripe beneath the eye. The back of the thighs are orange-pink, usually with small black spots or splotches. Their fingers are free of webbing and their toes are partially webbed. Breeding males may have a throat sac and a nuptial pad on the thumb (nuptial pads are skin spines that occur during the breeding season). The tympanum, or ear, is distinct .
Habitat: The Kangaroo Island Tree Frog is the only Litoria species (tree frog) found on Kangaroo Island. It has been recorded throughout the island in ponds, dams, creeks and wetlands.
Call description: Their call is a fast 'cree creee creee creee creeeee' of between 8 and 11 notes that can be heard in any month of the year. They call from the ground or low vegetation.
Breeding behaviour: Kangaroo Island Tree Frogs deposit their eggs in small clumps attached to submerged vegetation.
Interesting facts: Kangaroo Island Tree Frogs were considered the same species as the Brown Tree Frog (Litoria ewingii) until a research paper published in Feb 2024 highlighted differences in physical characteristics, genetics and call structure which elevated them to a species in their own right.
