Maud Island frog

Species of amphibian

NOTOC
The Maud Island frog (Leiopelma pakeka) has been recently been synonymised with Hamilton's frog (Leiopelma hamiltoni)

Leiopelma pakeka was a small terrestrial frog, growing to 5 cm in length, and is medium to dark brown with unwebbed toes and a distinctive extended ridge behind its eyes. It is slightly larger than and differs slightly in colour from Hamilton's frog (Leiopelma hamiltoni). Like other members of the genus Leiopelma, Maud Island frogs lay their eggs on moist ground. One to 19 eggs are laid in December, and are guarded by the male for 14–21 weeks. The eggs hatch into froglets, which the male carries on his back until they become independent. Long term studies beginning in 1983 have revealed this species is extremely long lived: some monitored frogs reach 35–40 years old, making them the longest lived wild frog in the world. Individuals are well camouflaged and sedentary, spending their whole lives within a 30 m2 area and moving the centre of their home range only 1.3 m every 10 years – one of the smallest home ranges known for any vertebrate.

L. pakeka is classed as taxonomically indistinct in the 2017 version of the New Zealand Threat Classification System, due to three independent genetic analyses finding it to be minimally differentiated from Hamilton's frog. In the prior edition of the New Zealand Threat Classification, L. pakeka was classified as both taxonomically indeterminate and Nationally Vulnerable. The entire species was initially confined to a 16 ha forest remnant on 309 ha Maud Island. In 1984–85 100 frogs were transferred by the Department of Conservation to a different part of Maud Island, successfully starting a new colony. This was more successful than a 2006 translocation of 100 to nearby Long Island; Motuara contained better habitat and frogs there were protected by a kiwi proof fence. Those outside the enclosure mostly disappeared.