turtle frogs waiting for the winter rains

I recently found this wonderful video about Turtle Frogs (Myobatrachus gouldii).  These frogs are one of our beautiful iconic species, relatively common on the Swan Coastal Plain in good quality banksia woodland around Perth.  They're not something most people would see though, because these unusual amphibians spend a lot of their lives in sand burrows.  Unusual, because they are brown, they eat termites, and they hatch from eggs as tiny frogs rather than tadpoles.

The video outlines research conducted by Nicola Mitchell with The University of Western Australia, and is titled "The Sex Life of the Turtle Frog". 



It's amazing to think that there are frogs sitting patiently in their little burrows, and have been waiting since late spring for the winter rains... Who would have thought that there would be so much going on under our bushwalking feet?