A piece of good news in the International Year of the Frog: a rare and threatened species of frog in New Zealand is making a comeback.
New Zealand is home to four native frog species. The rarest — Hamilton’s frog — numbers less than three hundred total. The Maud Island frogs — numbering around forty thousand — are breeding for the first time in recorded history, giving hope for other frog species.
You read that right — Maud Island frogs have NEVER been found breeding before.
A few facts about Maud Island frogs:
- They are normally found on only two islands in the Malborough Sounds region of southern New Zealand.
- Unlike the typical frog, Maud Island frogs don’t croak. They also don’t have webbed feet — because they don’t live in the water.
- Maud Island frogs don’t go through the tadpole stage — they hatch as fully formed frogs, known as tailed froglets.
- Females lay eggs under rocks or logs; males sit over the eggs until they hatch.
Over the last seventy million years, the Maud Island frogs haven’t done much evolving. They are virtually unchanged from their ancestors.
In 2006, sixty Maud Island frogs were released into a frog enclosure at a wildlife sanctuary. They had more than six hundred acres to roam — fenced and protected from predators like rats, mice, ferrets, and wild cats. The set-up must suit them: researchers at Karori Wildlife Sanctuary recently discovered thirteen tailed froglets clinging to their fathers’ backs. The little froglets are VERY little — about the size of a fingernail. (Maybe their size is part of why the Maud Island frogs haven’t been seen breeding before?)
What does this mean for the future of the Maud’s Island frog? Perhaps other predator-free habitats can strengthen survival prospects. The more places a frog species can breed, the better its chance for survival into the future.