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The Ornate Burrowing Frog
When
there's been heavy rain and the cane fields become flooded,
this is the time to find two of the ground-dwelling frogs:
the Ornate Burrowing frog and the Marbled Burrowing frog.
The Ornate Burrowing frog (Limnodynastes ornatus) is
pale tan with darker spotting and often has a distinctive
yellow stripe running down the centre of the back. It's about
40mm (under 2 inches) long, is a darker base colour with very
dark spots and a pale grey, granite-like pattern on its sides.
When the Marbled Burrowing frog (L. convexiusculus)
is stressed, it flushes to almost black in colour. Both of
these frogs with their stocky bodies and short legs can be
seen sitting or floating in the water. The calls of both these
frogs are quite soft and consist of a single, short note.
The Ornate Burrowing frog call sounds like a tennis ball being
hit. The Marbled Burrowing frog sounds like a child saying
the word, "bark!".
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