HAMILTON'S FROG

Forest and Bird, Volume 15, Issue 1, 1 February 1984, Page 17

HAMILTON'S FROG

DAVID G. COLLINGWOOD

This little fre rest c f our three tiny native fro i Only on two islands ip Strait area remote from the twod mbers of the genus, L. hochstetterre . archeyi who live in the Northern half of North Island. These three frogs are as un Class of amphibia as the tua Class of reptilia. Charles Dar frogs were absent f that New Zealand New Zealand is therefore a pointer not only to the geological history ¢ of New Zealand, but because of their rarit . the changes that have occurred to thé¢ountry since the European colonisation. ~ Our frogs simply co } a pas So migration from Wand would have ss oat ust therefore have »f Gondwonaland 5 million Lage the ancesig IS of land which was tol New Zealand oft (eler tuatara ye r€ OFeS of our, fauna... hey are Jit rar 2 Tiowark ie A047 ae Ack Kk thes giana 6 {1

became most important to the later surviva of the frog. = Several were dug up subsequently but by 1927 the forest shelter had disappeared and the windswept summit with its now re rock patch was avery changed — abitat, apparently not conducive to oul frog’s survival. However the microcli below the rocks coupled with the moist cloud cap combined to preserve the frogs ina minimal habitat. In 1951 the Wildlife Service planted taupata trees as shelter round the rock patch and muehlenbeckia and grasses over the rocks and better conditions for these little frogs now exist. Indeed their position is now extending and secure and some frogs have been seen venturing out to the grassy surrounds. In 1958 Hamilton’s frogs were discovered on Maud Island living ina sloping forested area from 150 metres and pwards containing some rock falls and rOvidingarmost suitable habitat. Close >search has auch information and eniuneareds of frogs

Reference and further reading Richard Sharrell. ‘The Tuatara Lizards and Frogs of New Zealand’, Collins 1966. |. G. Crook. New Zealand’s Nature Heritage pp 259-262. Ben D. Bell. Forest and Bird No 204, May 1977, pp 12-17. This series of articles is sponsored by the National Provident Fund in the cause of conservation.