{"id":958681,"date":"2026-11-09T22:58:19","date_gmt":"2026-11-09T22:58:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/958681\/"},"modified":"2026-11-09T22:58:19","modified_gmt":"2026-11-09T22:58:19","slug":"scientists-call-on-central-australians-to-help-find-elusive-desert-frogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/958681\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists call on Central Australians to help find elusive desert frogs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Central Australians are being asked to lend their ears to science as recent storms offer a chance to find elusive frogs.<\/p>\n

The Australian Museum is calling on residents to record frog calls using its free FrogID app during FrogID Week, running until Sunday.<\/p>\n

Among the most sought-after frogs are the Tanami toadlet and the desert spadefoot, which are burrowing frogs that can spend months and potentially years hidden underground.<\/p>\n

FrogID lead scientist Jodi Rowley said the central deserts were among Australia’s most difficult places to study frogs.<\/p>\n

“Some of the most poorly known frogs in Australia are from the central deserts or from really remote places throughout Australia,” she said.<\/p>\n

Many desert frogs emerge only after rain, when conditions are suitable for breeding.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Tanami toadlet’s call was first scientifically recorded in 2024, more than 40 years after the elusive desert frog was first described. (Supplied: Harry Ehmann)<\/p>\n

Some burrowing frogs retreat more than 1 metre underground, conserving moisture in protective cocoons made from their own skin.<\/p>\n

“They’ve got two things to do. One is eat as much as possible and the other is breed while there’s water,” Dr Rowley said.<\/p>\n

A scientific mystery 43 years in the making<\/p>\n

First described in 1981, the Tanami toadlet’s call went unrecorded by scientists for 43 years.<\/p>\n

That changed in March 2024, when more than 300 millimetres of rain fell over a weekend at Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary.<\/p>\n

Wildlife ecologist Tim Henderson said his team had walked to a flooded claypan where frogs were calling in abundance.<\/p>\n

\"Tim<\/p>\n

Tim Henderson leads the science program at Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary. (Supplied: Tim Henderson)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

“We don’t often see frogs out here because it’s the desert and it doesn’t rain much, but when it does, it really comes to life,” he said.<\/p>\n

The team located Tanami toadlets and recorded their calls using FrogID, giving scientists a new way to recognise the elusive species.<\/p>\n

Dr Henderson said recording the frogs was difficult because they emerged unpredictably after heavy rain.<\/p>\n

“It’s really about being in the right place at the right time,” he said.<\/p>\n

Dr Rowley said researchers still hoped to discover more locations for the species.<\/p>\n

The desert spadefoot, a spotted burrowing frog, is another species researchers hope to hear more from.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The desert spadefoot is a burrowing frog known for its distinctive “whoop, whoop, whoop” call. (Supplied: Abbey Dean)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

“It’s one of my favorites,” Dr Rowley said, imitating its call.<\/p>\n

“Something like whoop, whoop, whoop.”<\/p>\n

Everyday discoveries<\/p>\n

Since launching in 2017, FrogID has collected about 1.5 million frog recordings, helping scientists map distributions and contributing to the scientific description of 13 new frog species.<\/p>\n

But large parts of remote Australia remain poorly surveyed.<\/p>\n

Dr Rowley said recordings from people travelling, camping or living in remote communities could be particularly valuable.<\/p>\n

One recording submitted from a Northern Territory home revealed a frog more than 150 kilometres beyond its previously known range.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

FrogID allows scientists to identify species such as the Howard Springs toadlet by their distinctive calls. (Supplied: Dane Trembath)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

“So particularly in these remote and arid areas, your recording could be a huge scientific discovery,” she said.<\/p>\n

Long-term recordings help researchers understand changes in frog habitats, including the impacts of drought and climate change.<\/p>\n

Dr Henderson said even recordings of common frogs could be valuable if the species had never been documented in that location.<\/p>\n

How to get involved<\/p>\n

People can record frogs using the free FrogID app, even outside the official FrogID Week.<\/p>\n

Experts identify species from their calls, and background noise is not a problem.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

More than 1.5 million frog recordings have been collected through FrogID since 2017, including that of the Copland’s rock frog. (Supplied: Stephen Mahony)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The best opportunities are often after rain, particularly at night, although desert frogs can call during the day.<\/p>\n

“You don’t need to know what the frog species looks like. You don’t need to know what it is,” Dr Rowley said.<\/p>\n

“You just submit that and then we’ll get back to you.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Central Australians are being asked to lend their ears to science as recent storms offer a chance to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":958682,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[81093,64,63,51779,526134,36935,526135,85792,526137,128,526136,237744,338],"class_list":["post-958681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-animal-science","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-citizen-science","tag-frogid-week","tag-frogs","tag-jodi-rowley","tag-nature-conservation","tag-recording-frog-calls","tag-science","tag-tanami-toadlet","tag-tim-henderson","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/958681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=958681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/958681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/958682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=958681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=958681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=958681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}