Neobatrachus albipes

Conservation Status

Calling Period

Description

A medium-sized species of frog reaching up to 4.5 cm in body length. It has a brown, grey or cream-coloured back, with dark brown or olive-green marbling. The belly is white. The pupil is vertical, and the iris is silver-gold. Fingers are unwebbed and toes are three-quarters webbed, both without discs. The hands and feet are white on the upper surface. There is also a metatarsal tubercle on the bottom of each foot: this is a shovel-shaped lump used for burrowing.

Breeding Biology

Eggs are laid singly and in small clusters that are attached to vegetation under the surface of the water in temporary ponds, swamps, and flooded farmland. Tadpoles can reach a total length of up to 7 cm, and are grey-silver or gold-brown in colour with black specks. They swim at all depths of water bodies, and take around two and a half months to develop into frogs, although tadpoles that don't develop before winter can take much longer. Breeds during any time of the year after heavy rain, except winter.

Similar Species

Looks similar to Neobatrachus pelobatoides, Neobatrachus kunapalari, and Neobatrachus sutor in its distribution, but Neobatrachus kunapalari is larger; Neobatrachus pelobatoides has a thin pale or red longitudinal stripe along the middle of the back and lacks white on the upper surface of the hands and feet. The easiest way to distinguish Neobatrachus sutor is by its call.