Smooth toadlet facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Smooth toadlet |
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The smooth toadlet (Uperoleia laevigata) is a small frog that lives on the ground. It is found in Australia, mainly along the coast and west of the mountains in south-east Queensland. You can also find it across eastern New South Wales and in north-eastern Victoria.
What They Look Like
The smooth toadlet can grow up to 3.5 centimeters long. Its skin is usually grey-brown or olive-brown. It often has darker spots or patches. Look for a light, triangle-shaped mark on its head, right in front of its eyes. It also has a pale yellow spot under its armpit.
These frogs have special bumps behind their eyes called parotoid glands. Their belly is white, and they have a bright red patch on their thighs.
Where They Live and What They Do
You can find smooth toadlets in different places. They like dry forests, areas with tough, leafy trees (called sclerophyll forests), and open grasslands or farms. They live along the coast, on hills, and in mountain ranges.
Male smooth toadlets make a long "arrrrk" sound. They call from around their breeding spots, which can be anything from a big pond to a flooded ditch or even just wet grass. They might call right next to the water or up to 20 meters away.
They usually call from spring through autumn. After a lot of rain, many smooth toadlets might breed together for a week or two. But if it's dry, you might not see any of them at a breeding site.
How to Tell Them Apart
The smooth toadlet looks a lot like two other frogs from the same group: the dusky toadlet (Uperoleia fusca) and the Tyler's toadlet (Uperoleia tyleri). But there are some easy ways to tell them apart!
The smooth toadlet has a mostly white belly. It might have a few dark spots, but it's mostly white. The dusky toadlet has a white belly too, but it's covered in many dark spots and flecks. It looks almost completely dark underneath. The Tyler's toadlet has a belly that is fully dark, usually a dark blue or black color. Male smooth toadlets might have a dark throat, but their belly will still be white.
All three of these frogs have a colorful patch on their thighs, the back of their legs, and behind their knees. This patch can be red, orange, or yellow. For the smooth toadlet, this patch is quite big and almost always red. Sometimes it can be orange, but it's not yellow. The dusky toadlet has a smaller patch, which is usually orange. It can sometimes be red or, rarely, yellow. The Tyler's toadlet's patch is almost always yellow.
Each species also has a slightly different call. The dusky toadlet makes a short "arrk" sound. The smooth toadlet's "arrrk" is a bit longer and deeper. The Tyler's toadlet has the deepest and longest "arrrrk" sound of the three.
Around Sydney, you can find all three species. However, right in Sydney, you will mostly find smooth toadlets. Just north of Sydney, you might find dusky toadlets, and just south, Tyler's toadlets. The smooth toadlet lives in many of the same areas as both the Tyler's and dusky toadlets.
See also
In Spanish: Uperoleia laevigata para niños
