Heleioporus australiacus (Shaw and Nodder, 1795)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Superfamily: Myobatrachoidea > Family: Limnodynastidae > Genus: Heleioporus > Species: Heleioporus australiacus

Rana australiaca Shaw and Nodder, 1795, Nat. Miscell., 6 (Part 2): pl. 200. Type(s): According to Shaw, 1802, Gen. Zool., 3(1): 112, "from a drawing made in New Holland [Australia], its native country". NMS R104952, designated neotype by Mahony, Penman, Bertozzi, Lemckert, Bilney, and Donnellan, 2021, Zootaxa, 5016: 476. Type locality: "New Holland" (= Australia). Neotype from "Maroota State Forest, N[ew]S[south]W[ales], -33.5287°, 150.9865°" Australia. 

Rana spinipes Schneider, 1799, Hist. Amph. Nat.: 129, 139. Type: Including frog illustrated by as Rana australiaca in Shaw and Nodder, 1794, Nat. Miscell., 6 (Part 1): fig. 200. Type locality: "insulis oceani Australiam" (= Australia). Synonymy by Shaw, 1802, Gen. Zool., 3(1): 112.

Rana australensis — Daudin, 1802 "An. XI", Hist. Nat. Rain. Gren. Crap., Quarto: 104. Incorrect subsequent spelling of Rana australiacus Shaw and Nodder, 1795.

Bufo spinipes — Daudin, 1802 "An. XI", Hist. Nat. Rain. Gren. Crap., Quarto: 104; Daudin, 1803 "An. XI", Hist. Nat. Gen. Part. Rept., 8: 203.

Philocryphus flavoguttatus Fletcher, 1894, Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales, Ser. 2, 8: 233. Syntypes: AMS R29953–54 and MMUS R49–50 (those in the MMUZ considered lost) according to Shea and Sadlier, 1999, Tech. Rep. Aust. Mus., 15: 14; AMS 29953 designated lectotype by Goldman, Hill, and Stanbury, 1969, Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales, 93: 429. Type locality: "Couty of Cook—Mt. Victoria, Blue Mts. . . . , County of Cumberland—Thornleigh . . . , Dural near Parramatta . . . , near Manly", New South Wales, Australia. Lectotype from "Mt. Victoria, Blue Mountains, New South Wales", Australia. Synonymy by Fry, 1915, Proc. R. Soc. Queensland, 27: 71.

Heleioporus flavoguttatus — Fletcher, 1898, Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales, Ser. 2, 12: 679.

Philocryphus australiacus — Fry, 1915, Proc. R. Soc. Queensland, 27: 70; Wells and Wellington, 1985, Aust. J. Herpetol., Suppl. Ser., 1: 3.

Heleioporus australiacus — Moore, 1961, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 121: 182.

Heleioporus australiacus australiacus — Mahony, Penman, Bertozzi, Lemckert, Bilney, and Donnellan, 2021, Zootaxa, 5016: 476.

Heleioporus australiacus flavopunctatus Mahony, Penman, Bertozzi, Lemckert, Bilney, and Donnellan, 2021, Zootaxa, 5016: 479. Holotype: NMV D56515, by original designation. Type locality: "Yalmy Road, 1 km ENE of Waratah Road junction, East Gippsland, Victoria -34.65° 150.53°", Australia. Zoobank publication registration: 4EB07508-887E-45BE-BE34-1C3FBEC92437

Common Names

Spiny-footed Frog (Rana spinipes [no longer recognized]; Shaw, 1802, Gen. Zool., 3(1): 112).

Giant Burrowing Frog (Moore, 1961, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 121: 179; Cogger, 1975, Rept. Amph. Australia: 57; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 94; Barker, Grigg, and Tyler, 1995, Field Guide Aust. Frogs., Ed. 2: 206; Tyler and Knight, 2009, Field Guide Frogs Aust.: 74).

Giant Burrowing Frog (Helioporus australiacus australiacus, Mahony, Penman, Bertozzi, Lemckert, Bilney, and Donnellan, 2021, Zootaxa, 5016: 476. 

Eastern Owl Frog (Helioporus australiacus australiacus, Mahony, Penman, Bertozzi, Lemckert, Bilney, and Donnellan, 2021, Zootaxa, 5016: 476.

Southern Owl Frog (Helioporus australiacus flavopunctatus, Mahony, Penman, Bertozzi, Lemckert, Bilney, and Donnellan, 2021, Zootaxa, 5016: 476.

Distribution

Coast and eastern slope of the Great Dividing Range from the central coast of New South Wales to eastern Victoria, Australia, 0–1000 m elevation.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Australia

Endemic: Australia

Comment

See Moore, 1961, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 121: 179, for account. See photograph, map, description of geographic range and habitat, and conservation status in Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 421. See brief account by Tyler and Knight, 2009, Field Guide Frogs Aust.: 74–75. Cogger, 2018, Rept. Amph. Australia, 7th ed.: 41, provided a brief account, photograph, and polygon distribution map. Mahony, Penman, Bertozzi, Lemckert, Bilney, and Donnellan, 2021, Zootaxa, 5016: 481–489, reported on geographic variation (resulting in the recognition of two subspecies), molecular phylogeography/phylogenetics, conservation biology, external and larval morphology, life history and habitat, and advertisement calls and their variation. Cutajar, Portway, Gillard, and Rowley, 2022, Tech. Rep. Aust. Mus. Online, 36: 18, provided a polygon distribution map. 

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