Southern gastric-brooding frog (Rheobatrachus silus)

Species information

Videos and images

Threats

The southern gastric-brooding frog was first discovered in 1973, but it had vanished from the wild less than a decade later in 1981 (4). A number of explanations have been proposed to explain this startling decline, including drought, climate change and increased ultra-violet radiation (6). Since the end of the 1970s, a total of 14 frog species endemic to Australia have undergone dramatic and sudden declines, reflecting the global decline in amphibian populations. Recent analysis has indicated that the simultaneous declines of these species may be the result of a fungal infection (7).

Conservation

The southern gastric-brooding frog has been listed as Extinct by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) (2), and as Endangered in Queensland (4). Sadly, it seems likely that the secrets of this frog’s amazing ability to ‘switch off’ the secretion of digestive acids have been lost forever.