Tinker frog, Taudactylus liemi. The genus Taudactylus has unusual breeding behaviours that have made life difficult for researchers. Photo: Conrad Hoskin
Original story by Elise Worthington, ABC News
Queensland researchers are working on a world-first frog breeding program to stop the tiny, endangered tinker frog from becoming extinct.
Two of the six species of tinker frog have already been wiped out, and researchers believe the lethal amphibian Chytrid fungus is to blame.
The one- to two-centimetre-long frog, which is native only to Queensland rainforests, gets its name from its unique call, according to Professor Jean-Marc Hero from Griffith University.
“The thing that really makes them stand out is their tinker, the sound they make is like the tinker of a glass jar with a metal pen or something,” he said.
Professor Hero says a new program on the Gold Coast has managed to breed the tinker frog for the first time.
“There are only six species – they are an ancient Gondwana group – and at least three of those are already gone,” he said.
“We are looking to recover and support the species that are remaining.”
There are only six species – they are an ancient Gondwana group – and at least three of those are already gone.
Professor Jean-Marc Hero
Saskia Lafebre from Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary on the Gold Coast says it is an exciting development.
“The species that we are working with are almost endangered in their own right, but we are actually trying to work with these species so we can one day work with the more endangered species of tinker frogs,” she said.
Ms Lafebre says it will be around two years before the new tadpoles can breed, but if all goes well there could be up to 400 tinker frogs hopping around.
“We’ve got large numbers of eggs, large numbers of tadpoles and hopefully we can turn that in to large numbers of metamorphs,” she said.
Tinker frog’s breeding behaviour unusual
The tinker frog is part of the genus Taudactylus, which has unusual breeding behaviours that have made life difficult for researchers.
Unlike other species, the tinker frog likes to lay its white eggs underground because they have no pigmentation, which leaves them susceptible to sunburn.
“We made a little bit of a mistake, where the eggs got some sunlight and they were killed almost immediately,” Professor Hero said.
He says things have improved this year with hundreds of tadpoles spawned from a number of adult frogs.
“It’s quite an unusual frog it has unusual behaviour and we are very lucky to be finally very successful in breeding them,” he said.
The breeders hope that those frogs will then be able to breed and create a large, captive population.
“It’s very important that we learn how to breed these species in captivity so we can save them from extinction,” he said.
Deadly skin fungus attacking other frogs
The tinker, like many other types of frogs across the world, has fallen prey to the deadly skin fungus Chytridiomycota, which causes the animals to die from heart failure.
Professor Hero says researchers are still trying to establish how the fungus spreads, to avoid reinfecting the new tinker frogs.
“The fate of the animals is still yet to be determined because we are still struggling with what is the cause of the decline in these animals,” he said.
“It’s hard to know at this stage where these frogs are first infected by the zoo spores of the lethal fungus that kills them, but it’s certainly in water and probably most likely the tadpole stage.
“We have to be really careful before we re-release them into the wild that they are not infected with that disease.”
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