Motorbike FrogScientific name: Litoria moorei

Meaning of name: Litoria may be derived from ‘shore’, ‘strand’ or ‘beach’. Moorei honours John A Moore, an American herpetologist who was a pioneer of Australian frog studies in the 1950s.

Distribution: South-west of Western Australia from Murchison River to Pallinup River.

Description: A robust green or brown frog with triangular-shaped head. Both the fingers and toes have discs on the tips, but only the toes have webbing. Up to 74 millimetres long.

Notes: The call is a low growl broken into several parts, similar to a motorbike changing gears. The eggs are laid in a floating clump attached to surface vegetation.

References: Frogs of Western Australia. MJ Tyler, LA Smith, RE Johnstone. 1994
Reptiles and Frogs of the Perth Region. Brian Bush, Brad Maryan, Robert Browne-Cooper, David Robinson. 1995
Field Guide to the Frogs of Western Australia. MJ Tyler, P Doughty. 2009

Hear the call at the WA Museum http://museum.wa.gov.au/explore/frogwatch/frogs/motorbike-frog