Uperoleia rugosa

Conservation Status

Calling Period

Description

A small species of frog reaching up to 3 cm in body length. It has a brown or grey back, with dark brown patches on the lower back and shoulders. There is sometimes a V-shaped marking between the eyes. The belly is clear grey in the middle and pale pink near the under-surface of the arms and legs, covered with tiny white specks. The male has a dark grey, nearly black throat. The under-surfaces of the arms and thighs are pale pink. The pupil is diamond-shaped, and the iris is gold. The groin and the fronts and backs of the thighs are bright red. Fingers and toes are unwebbed, both without discs. The parotoid glands on the shoulders often look like two brown or sand-coloured patches.

Breeding Biology

Eggs are laid singly on vegetation under the surface of the water in ponds, and in temporarily flooded ditches in grassland and near roads. Tadpoles can reach a total length of up to 3.5 cm, and are dark brown in colour. They often remain on the bottom of water bodies, and take around two months to develop into frogs. Breeds during spring to autumn.

Similar Species

Looks very similar to Uperoleia fusca and Uperoleia laevigata in its distribution, but has a different belly colour to Uperoleia fusca and is smaller than, and has a different call to, Uperoleia laevigata.