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Aussies asked to help save native frogs

The Australian Museum has released an app they hope will encourage people to help with the first ever national frog count.

a Stuttering Barred Frog
The Australian Museum has a new app to help in conducting the first ever national frog count. (AAP)

Australians have been urged to form an army of frog biologists to help researchers save endangered native species.

The Australian Museum is conducting the first ever national frog count and needs the public to roll up their sleeves and join in.

Dr Jodi Rowley, curator of Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Biology at the Australian Museum, said data from the count would offer invaluable information.

"There's just so much we still don't know about frogs," Dr Rowley told AAP.

She hopes a new app launched by the museum on Friday, FrogID, will create an "army of frog biologists" that could help discover more native species.

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People will be able to record frog noises for 20 seconds on their phones and then send the results to the Australian Museum, where experts will match the sound to known species.

Not only can people submit their recordings to the museum, they can also have a go at guessing the species themselves.

"Hopefully the more they do it, they better they get at it," Dr Rowley said.

The new technology will allow people to identify frogs without intruding too far into their habitat.

"Previously, to identify frogs, people would have to trample through their habitat, maybe touch the frog, whereas the app is a good way to not disturb the frog," Dr Rowley said.

Australia has 240 different species of native frogs, and potentially more that have yet to be discovered.

"Most people might not know, but frogs are an incredibly important part of the ecosystem," Dr Rowley said.

"Monitoring the numbers and habitats of frogs can help us understand the impacts of climate change and other environmental issues".

She also hopes Australians will fall in love with frogs, the way she did during her university years.

"I am obsessed with frogs!" Dr Rowley enthused.

"I grew up in the city and didn't see them until I went into the bush for uni...I fell in love with them, I just couldn't believe they were real!".

The count officially begins on Friday, with experts at the museum on standby to receive data collected by the app on an ongoing basis.


2 min read

Published

Source: AAP



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