Moss froglet

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title: "Moss froglet" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["crinia", "frogs-of-australia", "amphibians-of-tasmania", "endemic-fauna-of-tasmania", "amphibians-described-in-1994", "taxonomy-articles-created-by-polbot"] description: "Species of frog" topic_path: "geography/australia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moss_froglet" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Species of frog ::

| image = Crinia nimbus.jpg | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = | taxon = Crinia nimbus | authority = (Rounsevell, Ziegeler, Brown, Davies & Littlejohn, 1994) | synonyms = * Bryobatrachus nimbus Rounsevell, Ziegeler, Brown, Davies & Littlejohn, 1994 | synonyms_ref =

The moss froglet (Crinia nimbus) is a species of frog in the family Myobatrachidae. It is endemic to southern Tasmania.

Description

Adult males measure 19-27 mm and adult females 25-30 mm in snout–vent length. The snout is short and projecting. The eyes are prominent. The tympanum is indistinct. The fingers and toes are unwebbed. Dorsal colouration ranges from very dark brown to grey-brown or tan. There are darker markings that are quite obscure in the darkest-coloured specimens. Some individuals have a pale or tan mid-vertebral stripe. Ventral surfaces are dark brown with fine white spots or pale with dark spots.

The male advertisement call is a series of ''tok'''s, likened to a ping-pong ball being dropped on wood.

Habitat

Crinia nimbus is the only fully terrestrial frog in Tasmania. They live in moist, cool, alpine habitats, poorly drained sites in moor land (shrubland and heath), and rainforest, from the sea level to 1287 m. They are mostly quite cryptic and hide in vegetation and in the nest cavities, but males can be heard calling in spring to summer.

Reproduction

Females lay clutches of 4–16 egg in nests in moss, lichen, or peat. The larvae hatch inside egg capsules. After a while, egg capsules disintegrate, but the larvae continue their development in the resulting gelatinous mass as free-living, but non-feeding larvae. They only leave the nest after completing the metamorphosis, about one year after starting their development.

Conservation

Crinia nimbus is probably widespread in southwestern Tasmania. There are no know threats to it, although the terrestrial nests are vulnerable to trampling by animals and people (tourists and researchers alike). Most of the range is protected by national parks.

References

References

1. IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group.. (2022). "''Crinia nimbus''".
2. (8 November 2018). "Moss Froglet". Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania.
3. Frost, Darrel R.. (2024). "''Crinia nimbus'' (Rounsevell, Ziegeler, Brown, Davies, and Littlejohn, 1994)". American Museum of Natural History.
4. (1994). "A new genus and species of frog (Anura: Leptodactylidae: Myobatrachinae) from southern Tasmania". Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia.
5. (1996). "Terrestrial development in the Tasmanian frog, ''Bryobatrachus nimbus'' (Anura: Myobatrachinae): larval development and a field staging table". Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania.

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