Biodiversity, New species, Reptiles & Amphibians

Sweet new discovery – a new species of chocolate frog

Move over Freddo, there is a new chocolate frog in town… meet Litoria mira, a new frog species that has been recently described by Queensland Museum scientists.

Compared to other tree frogs, known for their green skin, Litoria mira is brown and was given the nickname chocolate frog because of its colouring.

Lead author, Dr Paul Oliver who is a joint appointment with Queensland Museum and Griffith University said once they saw the new species, they started calling it a chocolate frog and the name stuck.

“The closest known relative of Litoria mira is the Australian green tree frog. The two species look similar except one is usually green, while the new species usually has a lovely chocolate colouring,” Dr Oliver said. “What’s a little surprising about this discovery is that the well-known and common green tree frog of Australia has a long-overlooked relative living in the lowland rainforests of New Guinea. “Because of this we named the new frog Litoria mira because the word Mira means surprised or strange in Latin.”

Rainforest habitat of *Litoria mira* in New Guinea. Image: Steve Richards

What species of frog is this?

Are you curious about an unidentified frog you’ve found in your backyard? Ask our experts or use the Frog ID app which helps identify frog species by their call and geotagging to map species distribution.

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