AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION 17 December 07 Giant frog surfaces after years underground
Summer rains have prompted an unusual frog to surface near Brewarrina in northern New South Wales - the furthest south it has ever been found in the state.
A senior ranger with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Daniel Trudgen, says the giant water holding frog spends up to a year underground, before surfacing during the wet to eat and breed.
But Mr Trudgen says the drought has forced the frogs underground for some years.
"It fills up with water - it's got a big bladder - then as it dries up, it burrows underground," he said.
"It actually uses skin that moults off its body when it is underground to form a protective cocoon around its body to trap the water.
"Then it sits up underground for maybe a couple of years, depending on how dry it is. Then the next heavy rain, it burrows out and goes through the process all over again."
He says the find at the Narran Lake Nature Reserve is encouraging.
"It's good in the fact that these guys have survived, because it has been very dry, as everyone knows," he said.
"It's good to know that these sort of animals have survived this extended dry period and with these summer rains, they are coming out, they are still healthy and going about their business."
Giant frog surfaces after years underground