Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog

The eastern dwarf tree frog is a small species of frog; females can reach a maximum size of 25–30 mm, while males may only reach 20 mm when fully grown. The dorsum is usually green in colour, but can range from brown to bright green, and occasionally has black flecks. The ventral surface is white with a granular texture. A distinct white line runs from under the eye to above the arm. A brown line begins from the nostril, continues across the eye, and can extend between the dorsal and ventral colours. This species' toe discs are only slightly larger than the toes, and toes are 75% webbed. Some individuals will have an orange posterior thigh, and the vocal sac of males is yellow. The tadpoles are larger than the adult frogs reaching a total length of 48 mm.

The eastern dwarf tree frog lives in a wide variety of habitats, breeding in the still waters of coastal swamps, lagoons, dams, ditches, and garden ponds within forest, heathland, wallum country and human-altered farmland and suburban areas. It lives in reeds and similar plants both near and away from the water, and often inhabits banana, pandanus and pineapple plants. Due to this habitation of farmland, eastern dwarf tree frogs are often accidentally shipped throughout Australia with fruit.

Breeding occurs at small ponds or dams, which have ample reeds or other emergent vegetation, in both permanent and temporary water sources. The males' call is a short, high pitched "wr-e-e-ek ip-ip" repeated three or four times. They emit their calls from a single submandibular vocal sac. The males call during the spring and summer seasons, often increasing the frequency of calls before and after heavy rain. Calling males have been observed semaphoring using foot-flicking and leg waving behaviours, often preceding these males fighting. It is hypothesised that these behaviours are territorial and aid their calling behaviours in noisy environments. …