Vertebrate fauna of SE Asia
  

 

   
Home  
——————————  
SE Asia fauna ...  
   
Primates
 Carnivorans
 Large Mammals
 Small Mammals
 Mammal calls
 Bats
—————
Birds
—————
 Snakes
 Lizards & Crocodilians
 Turtles
—————
 Amphibians
 Tadpoles
 Frog calls
—————
Freshwater Fishes
 Marine & Brackish Fishes
—————
Species Lists
 





 


 
——————————  
New Guinea herptiles ...  
Snakes   Lizards   Frogs  
——————————  
SE Asia Vert Records (SEAVR) archives ...  
  Indochina Records
  Indonesia & PNG Records
 
——————————  
Philippines Vertebrate Records (PVR)  
Philippines Records  
Email :
 
——————————  
   
  New or updated pages ...
 
 
     
 
     
 
     
 
——————————  
 

Search this site ...

 
 


   

 
  ——————————  
 


Email :


Text and photos by Nick Baker, unless credited to others.
Copyright © Ecology Asia 2024

 
     
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

   
   
 
Southern Torrent Frog
   
   

Fig 1
 

Fig 2


Fig 3
 

Fig 4


Fig 5


Fig 6


 

 

Family : RANIDAE
Species : Amolops australis
Size (snout to vent) :
Female 4.7 cm, Male 3.1 cm

Torrent Frogs, or Cascade Frogs, are adapted to life amongst the torrents, rapids and waterfalls  which cascade out of Southeast Asia's hilly or montane rainforests.

The Southern Torrent Frog Amolops australis,   can typically be found clinging to boulders just above the stream level, however if disturbed these frogs do not hesitate to leap into the fiercest flowing water, only to emerge moments later clinging to another rock downstream. The species appears to be both diurnal and nocturnal: it can be seen easily by day at Sungai Bantang, Johor, Peninsular Malaysia.

The tadpoles of this and other Amolops species have a modified lower lip which acts as a sucker allowing them to cling to rocks in the swiftest of stream currents. (See example of the tadpole of the closely-related Tuberculated Torrent Frog Amolops gerutu).

The Amolops genus ranges throughout Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java and Borneo. 

As of 2018, Amolops gerutu is only known from the southern state of Johor, Peninsular Malaysia including localities such as Endau-Rompin and Sungai Bantang where lowland streams are sourced from montane forests. The species was once considered to be part of the Amolops larutensis species complex (Chan, K. O. et al, 2018).


Figs 1 to 4 : Examples from Sungai Bantang, Johor, Peninsular Malaysia: all these specimens were found by day. Note the absence of obvious patterning on the rear part of the thigh in Figure 1: this is diagnostic for the species.

Fig 5 : Fast-flowing rocky stream habitat at Sungai Bantang, Johor, Peninsular Malaysia.

Fig 6 : Example from lowland stream at Endau-Rompin National Park, Johor, Peninsular Malaysia.


References :

Chan, K. O., Abraham, R. K., Grismer, J. L., & Grismer, L. (2018). Elevational size variation and two new species of torrent frogs from Peninsular Malaysia (Anura: Ranidae: Amolops Cope). Zootaxa, 4434(2), 250-264.