Digging in: The common spadefoot toad is actually a native frog. Photo: Chris Tzaros
Did you hear the one about a toad that’s really a native frog?
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The one called the common spadefoot toad?
“Even though its name is ‘toad’, it is actually a frog, as Australia has no native true toads,” Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority project officer Janice Mentiplay-Smith said.
March is breeding season for the frog, which can be found in the region’s grey box grassy woodlands.
“Instead of the foamy mass of eggs we are familiar with, the common spadefoot toad lays its large, jelly-like eggs in long strands in ditches, claypans and depressions in the ground known as gilgais, and dams,” Ms Mentiplay-Smith said.
“The eggs are usually anchored to rushes and other submerged vegetation. The tadpoles are darkish and have flecked fins.
Eggs-ellent news: The common spadefoot toad lays its large, jelly-like eggs in long strands in ditches, claypans, depressions and dams.
“As an adult, this spherical little frog uses its spade-like feet to dig a burrow, where it spends much of its time buried in the soil, waiting for rain.
“This is a typical adaptation of frogs that must cope with the ‘boom and bust’ of the Australian climate.”
The adult common spadefoot toad is often found in dry woodlands and grassland areas, beneath the soil and fallen logs and timber, demonstrating the need for ‘messy’ areas that contain this precious habitat. At breeding time, they will seek water.
“Although classified as non-threatened, the common spadefoot toad faces many obstacles in our modified world,” Ms Mentiplay-Smith said.
“Cats and foxes, and even backyard chooks, can easily prey on it and dig it out of the ground.
“Herbicides and pesticides are no friend to any frog, and the devastating chytrid fungus is a constant threat.”
Australia has about 240 species of frogs, but no true ‘toad’.
“The only toad we have in Australia is the cane toad, a feral pest imported from South and Central America to Queensland in 1935 as an unsuccessful way to control the cane beetle,” Ms Mentiplay-Smith said.
“Some of our native frogs can easily be mistaken for the cane toad, so it is worth finding out how to distinguish a native from a feral.”
Throughout 2022, Goulburn Broken CMA and partners are celebrating the Year of the Frog as part of the Linking Landscapes and Communities Project, and each month will feature a different frog species.
For more information, phone Janice Mentiplay-Smith on 0418 316 169 or email: janicem@gbcma.vic.gov.au
Teen spirit: The tadpoles are darkish and have flecked fins.
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