Species details
Litoria calliscelis (Mount Lofty Ranges Tree Frog, South Australian Tree Frog)
Family: HYLIDAE
Size range: They are 27 to 45 mm long.
Regions: Central Districts, Mt Lofty Ranges & Adelaide Plains, Flinders Ranges, Murray Valley
Description: The back varies from cream to grey, copper or dark brown, with darker patches running down the middle. They are slender, medium sized frogs with a broad head and rounded snout. A dark stripe runs through the eye from the snout to the shoulder, with a pale stripe beneath. The backs of the thighs are yellow-orange, usually with small black spots. They have a golden patch on the back edge of the shoulder and armpit. Their fingers are free of webbing and their toes are half 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: It is the only Litoria species (tree frog) naturally found in Adelaide and the Mt Lofty Ranges. In settled areas it is often found clinging to windows and is a common visitor to bathrooms. They shelter in damp vegetation on or near the ground and are frequently found in leaf litter, reeds and sedges around streams, lakes, wetlands and ponds.
Call description: Their call is a fast 'cree creee creee cree creeee' of 7 to 32 pulsed notes that can be heard in any month of the year. They call from the ground, in low vegetation, reeds or other aquatic plants.
Breeding behaviour: Mount Lofty Ranges Tree Frogs can form large breeding aggregations around water bodies. They deposit their eggs in small clumps attached to submerged vegetation. The tadpoles are nearly transparent with a couple of pigmented bands along the body.
Interesting facts: Mount Lofty Ranges 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. The authors of that paper suggested the common name South Australian Tree Frog, but as they are restricted to the Greater Mount Lofty Ranges, and other tree frogs are found in South Australia, we prefer the name Mount Lofty Ranges Tree Frog. A small number of recordings made between 1997 and 2002 on the Eyre Peninsula and Yorke Peninsula during the EPA Frog Census featured what was then classified as the Brown Tree Frog. That name has been retained for these records until more accurate identification can be determined.
