Southern Gastric-brooding Frog (Rheobatrachus silus), AKA Platypus Frog

Is it extinct?

MANY experts think the 'wonder frog', Rheobatrachus silus, is now extinct.

It is known from only one stream, in the Kondalilla National Park between Montville and Mapleton in Queensland, Australia.

In the mid-1970s, more than 100 of the frogs could be seen in one night. Now they are not seen at all. In fact, the last recorded sighting was in December 1979.

Some frog-lovers are hopeful that Rheobatrachus silus will be found again. It is Australia's only truly aquatic frog -- spending most of its time on the stream bed or hiding under the countless submerged rocks and boulders in Kondalilla rainforest stream.