SPECIES: Litoria castanea — Yellow-spotted Tree Frog
CLASSIFICATION: Critically endangered
The Yellow-spotted Tree Frog is indeed in a spot of bother; having not being definitively 'spotted' in the wild since 1973. A large species of up to 80mm, it has large yellow-cream spots, combined with marbling and completely webbed toes. Previously known to exist in small pockets of NSW and ACT, habitat of the Yellow-spotted Tree Frog include ponds, swamps, lagoons, still backwaters of rivers and even farm dams. Under threat from habitat degradation, disease, pollution and climate change, it's anyone's guess as to whether this frog species is actually still quietly surviving.