Corroboree Frog
What are Corroboree Frogs?
Corroboree Frogs are Australia’s most iconic amphibian species and are amongst the most visually spectacular frogs in the world. There are two closely related species of Corroboree Frog:
 The Southern Corroboree Frog (Pseudophryne corroboree)
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 The Northern Corroboree Frog (Pseudophryne pengilleyei)
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Both Corroboree Frog species are between 2.5 and 3 centimetres in length.
Where Do The Corroboree Frogs Live?
Corroboree Frogs are only found in a small area of south-eastern New South Wales.
 The distribution of the Southern Corroboree Frog (P corroboree) and the Northern Corroboree Frog (P. pengilleyi). Darker stippling indicates the range of each species.
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Both species occur in high montane and sub-alpine habitats. The Southern Corroboree Frog only occurs in the Snowy Mountains region of Kosciuszko National Park between 1250 and 1750 meters above sea level. The Northern Corroboree Frog occurs in two areas; the Fiery Range region of Kosciuszko National Park and nearby State Forests, and the Brindabella Ranges within Namadgi National Park, Bimberi Nature Reserve and Brindabella National Park. Northern Corroboree Frogs range from between 950 and 1800 meters above sea level.
What Habitats Do Corroboree Frogs Use?
During the breeding season Corroboree Frogs live in pools within sphagnum bogs, wet tussock grasslands, and wet heath.
 Typical sub-alpine sphagnum bog pool used as breeding habitat for the Southern Corrobore Frog and high altitude populations of the Northern Corroboree Frog.
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 High-montane wet-tussock grassland area typical of the breeding habitat used by many Northern Corroboree Frog populations.
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Corroboree Frogs generally prefer shallow pools with low water flow and a large surface area. These pools often dry during mid summer which puts the Corroboree Frog tadpoles at risk during drought years, as the pools may dry before they can change into young frogs. However the advantage of pools that dry each year is that they usually have much lower densities of tadpole predators, such as fish and dragonfly larvae.
Very little is known about the non-breeding habitats used by Corroboree Frogs. Corroboree Frogs have been found under logs and leaf litter in woodlands surrounding breeding habitat so it is likely that they move out of the pools and spend the winter in nearby woodlands.
What Do Corroboree Frogs Eat?
Corroboree Frogs mainly eat small ants and other invertebrates. During winter they eat much less and many individuals don’t appear to eat at all.
What Is The Corroboree Frog Life-Cycle?
The breeding season for Corroboree Frogs is during summer, from mid January through to the end of February. The males call from nest sites within thick vegetation at the edges of pools. Female Corroboree Frogs are attracted to their calls and lay their eggs within the male’s nest. After they have laid their eggs the female leaves the male to look after the eggs. A single female usually lays between 10 and 40 eggs in a clutch.
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The male may attract several females to lay eggs in their nest throughout the breeding season and up to 200 eggs have been recorded in the one nest.
At the end of the breeding season the male leaves his nest and the eggs are left develop through to hatching. Once the eggs have reached hatching stage they stop developing and wait for rains in autumn and winter to flood the nest site. Once the nest is flooded the eggs then hatch into tadpoles. The tadpoles move through the vegetation into the main pool where they grow and develop until the following summer when they transform into little Corroboree Frogs.
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From egg laying to transformation takes between 10 and 11 months in the wild and it is another four years before the Corroboree Frogs reaches sexual maturity and are able to breed themselves and repeat the life-cycle.
