White-lipped tree frog


The white-lipped tree frog is found in Australia and is the world's largest tree frog. Other common names include the New Guinea treefrog, giant tree frog, and Australian giant treefrog.

Description

The white-lipped tree frog reaches in length. Females are larger than males, and have thicker skin in correlation with the difference in body size. Its dorsal surface is usually bright green, although the colour changes depending on the temperature and background, and can be brown. The ventral surface is off-white. The lower lip has a distinctive white stripe, which continues to the shoulder. The white stripes on the trailing edges of the lower leg may turn pink in the breeding male. The white-lipped tree frog has large toe pads, which aid it to climb. The toes are completely webbed, and the hands are partially webbed.

Ecology and behaviour

The white-lipped tree frog is distributed in Australia along the coastal areas of Cape York Peninsula and the wet tropics of north-eastern Queensland. It is the most widely distributed tree frog in the New Guinea region, spanning from eastern Indonesia, through the New Guinea mainland, to the Bismarck and the Admiralty Islands in the north. It lives in rainforests, cultivated areas, and around houses in coastal areas, and is restricted to areas below 1200 m in altitude.
It has a loud, barking call, but when distressed, it makes a cat-like "mew" sound or may discharge urine. Males call during spring and summer after rain from vegetation around the breeding site, normally a still body of water.
Its diet is mainly insects and other arthropods. It can live to over 10 years in the wild.
This species of frog is known for being moved around in fruit produce from northern Australia and ending up becoming a lost frog in southern areas.

As a pet

It is kept as a pet; but in Australia, it may be kept in captivity only with an appropriate permit.

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