More than 240 frog species are under threat - and this week you can hop to it to help our amphibian friends. The Australian Museum's FrogID citizen science project asks us to simply record the sounds of frog calls and upload the audio for the museum's research team to assess and add to the growing understanding of how frogs are coping against threats including climate change, bushfires, floods, disease, and habitat loss and degradation. In less than four years, more than 460,000 records of 205 different frog species have been verified and made available to scientists, land managers and the public thanks to citizen scientists. "Our frogs are suffering - they are sensitive to environmental change and this year they are dying in large numbers," said FrogID lead scientist Dr Jodi Rowley, who is also curator of amphibian and reptile conservation biology at the Australian Museum and UNSW Sydney. "We need the help of people all over Australia. "We are missing even basic information on frogs. There are areas in Australia that have no scientific records of frogs, even though they are there. "We need everyone recording calls in their backyards, in bushland, in paddocks, around dams, in remote outback areas, in rainforests, on mountain slopes and on farmland." This year the project would especially like to receive audio of a newly discovered species, Gurrumul's toadlet from the Wessel Islands of northern Australia. There are no existing calls on record. Also being sought is the tusked frog, which was rediscovered on the Northern Tablelands of NSW after a 40-year absence. Their distinctive "chirrup" call was heard west of Tenterfield and recorded with the FrogID app. It is also hoped to gather calls from 15 priority species, including green tree frogs in Queensland, NSW and Victoria. Frogs in these areas have suffered huge losses over the winter months. Other priority species are the giant burrowing frog, New England tree frog, Davie's tree frog, southern barred frog, giant barred frog, Fleay's barred frog, eastern banjo frog, northern banjo frog, green and golden bell frog, southern bell frog, motorbike frog, Roth's tree frog, Peron's tree frog and the magnificent brood frog. The museum also hopes to gather audio of calls from some of the 39 known frog species which are still not represented in the national FrogID database. In the past year, members of the public have added audio of four frog species new to the database: tawny trilling frog (WA), Central Ranges toadlet (SA), moss froglet (Tas) and wailing frog (WA Kimberley region). FrogID Week runs from November 12-21. There's also a competition for the Top Frogger who records and submits the most frog calls during the week. Find out more and download the app HERE
