A medium-sized species of frog reaching up to 5.5 cm in body length. It has a light brown, grey or yellow-brown back, with dark or light brown patches and sometimes a pale longitudinal stripe along the middle. The belly is white. The pupil is vertical, and the iris is gold in the upper half and silver in the lower half. Fingers are unwebbed and toes are fully webbed, both without discs. There is also a metatarsal tubercle on the bottom of each foot: this is a shovel-shaped lump used for burrowing.
Eggs are laid as loose clusters near the surface of the water in temporary ponds, swamps, and dams. Tadpoles can reach a total length of up to nearly 8 cm and are grey, gold, or gold-brown in colour. They often remain at the bottom of water bodies, and take around five to six months to develop into frogs, although tadpoles in warmer areas may develop much faster. Breeds during late winter to summer after heavy rain.
Looks similar to Neobatrachus pictus and Neobatrachus sutor in its distribution, but is smaller and has a different call to Neobatrachus pictus, and has a different back colour pattern to Neobatrachus sutor.
Photo: Stephen Mahony
Photo: Jodi Rowley
Photo: Jodi Rowley
Photo: Stephen Mahony
By: Joanne Ocock
By: Murray Littlejohn
Found throughout inland NSW, SA, the ACT, eastern WA, western VIC, and southern NT and QLD.