07/09/2026
Meet the Otways Smooth Frog (Geocrinia sparsiflora).
While it has been living in the Otways all along, science has only given it a name of its own recently!
Here at Wildlife Wonders, we first recorded one of these frogs calling at our gully dam in the Sanctuary in 2023, and they’ve been regulars ever since.
The story behind it is a lovely one. Scientists with the Australian Museum FrogID program were listening closely to recordings sent in by everyday citizen scientists, looking for small regional differences in frog calls. What they found was a surprise: the two species of Smooth Frog known in south-eastern Australia were actually three!
These frogs have an unusual way of raising a family. Instead of laying eggs in water, they lay them on land, in sticky clusters tucked under leaf litter, matted reeds or the base of tussock grasses. The eggs wait there through late summer and autumn while the male stays close by. Only when rain floods the nest, often in spring, do the tadpoles hatch and finish growing in the water. Development takes roughly five to six months from start to finish.
The Otways Smooth Frog lives only in the Otway Ranges, making it the most geographically restricted of the Smooth Frogs. Numbers seem healthy for now and the frogs cope with some disturbance, though such a small range means their future is worth watching closely.
Next time you join us on a Walk with Wildlife or Dusk Discovery Tour, listen out - you might be hearing a frog that only recently got its name!
Thanks to Angair for sharing the news and thanks to our Nature Guide, Erin Bradley and Wildlife Manager, Katy Schrederis for sharing their photos 💚🐸
