Terrestrial Development in the Tasmanian Frog, Bryobatrachus Nimbus (anura: Myobatrachinae): Larval Development and a Field Staging Table

The moss froglet Bryobatrachus nimbus is a recently described terrestrial and direct anuran from southwestern Tasmania. A 17-stage table based on changes in external was developed in order to calculate development rates and larval This staging demonstrated that development was not predominantly intracapsular as earlier reported. Instead, larvae hatch from the capsule two to three months after oviposition and continue development in the nest within a homogenous, fluid. T'his reproductive mode was known in Australia in the (7eocrinia rosea from southwestern Australia. This paper describes the larval of a subalpine and presents data on clutch size, ovum and diameters and the duration of larval development. Capsule size is almost twice that recorded for any other Australian anuran, while the larval lifespan is the longest known for any terrestrial breeding Australian occurs approximately 12 months after oviposition.