Crawling Brood Frog

Also sometimes referred to as the crawling toadlet, Günther's toadlet was named after Albert Günther, who named many species of frogs and reptiles throughout Australia. This frog is a small, robust, warty species that can found in Southwestern Australia along the coast in cities like Kalbarri, Western Australia, Esperance, Western Australia, and Perth, as well as more inland regions such as Wheatbelt (Australia), Darling Scarp, and the Great Southern. It is a ground-dwelling species that moves by crawling and can be identified by its unique markings. This species is primarily brown and gray in color and bears a dark bar between its eyes and an "x" above its shoulders. The underside of the species has blotchy black markings against a white background. They appear somewhat flattened in stature, with a small head and short limbs with unwebbed toes. Their hind legs have two large tubercles. They have horizontal pupils and gold irises. Günther's toadlet is one of the smaller species of frog, growing to a maximum length of about 3.5 cm, with females appearing larger than males. It is often confused with the Orange-crowned toadlet (Pseudophryne occidentalis), but can differentiated by its larger tubercles. Günther's toadlet can be found in a variety of different habitats. …

Like most other Pseudophryne species, Günther's toadlet eats mainly small insects like ants, mites, beetles. They do not hunt, but rather sit and wait for their prey to come near to them. Along with other Australian frogs in the genus Pseudophryne, such as Pseudophryne occidentalis, Pseudophryne semimarmorata, Pseudophryne dendyi, P. bibronii, and Pseudophryne coriacea, P. guentheri is a poisonous species of frog which defends it from many predators. Using Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry(GC-MS) and examination of the frogs' stomach contents, researchers were able to determine that Günther's toadlet had mostly biosynthesized Alkaloid (pseudophrynamines), rather than dietary ones (Pumiliotoxin), which suggests that these frogs are able to maintain a chemical defense even if they are eating very little.