17 Extinct Types of Frogs!

If you pass by a stream, a lake, a forest, or a pond, chances are, you’ll encounter one of our froggy pals hopping around or hear them ribbit. Typically, the male gender croaks more often to attract mates. On the other hand, female frogs – the quieter of this fascinating species – remain silent, only croaking to mark their territories or when in pain.

As the most common amphibian critters, frogs live on every continent save Antarctica, although a fossil frog was once found there. These bold, intuitive animals boast diverse and unique adaptations to help them thrive in any environment. These include long legs – which allow them to leap 20-50 times their body length to catch prey and escape predators, camouflage, webbed feet, and toxins.

And did you know frogs have been around for more than 250 million years, even before the fierce, deadly dinosaurs first appeared on earth? Sadly, some of these amphibian species are now endangered, and others have long since vanished. In this article, we’ll explore 17 types of these now extinct frogs. 

1. Extinct Frogs: Triadobatrachus massinoti

Popularly recognized as the world’s first frog, the Triadobatrachus massinoti was a 3.9-inch-long amphibian that lived on Pangea. Unlike modern-day frogs, jumping wasn’t one of its fortes, but its strong legs made it a proficient swimmer. It also had at least 26 vertebrae, six on its tail, and a compact body.

Biologists believe the Triadobatrachus massinoti morphed into a more advanced amphibian, like the Prosalirus bitis, the fossilized prehistoric frog Farish Jenkins discovered in Arizona in 1981. The animal spent much time on land, and its skull resembled that of extant frogs.

2. Blunt-Snouted Shrub Frog (Pseudophilautus extirpo)

Initially found in Sri Lanka, the blunt-snouted shrub frog was a member of the family Rhacophoridae. What we know about it is based on a holotype discovered in 1882 or before—it had a flat head, a sturdy body, and a snout–vent length (SVL) of 43.5 mm. This extinct amphibian didn’t have a visible tympanum, which most frogs and toads have. Moreover, it had a shagreened dorsal region, halfway-webbed toes, and fingers with vague dermal fringes.

Since no other specimen of the Pseudophilautus extirpo has been found, nothing more is known about it, including the living environment it preferred and why it went extinct. However, scientists suspect habitat loss was the main reason behind its disappearance.

3. White-Nosed Shrub Frog (Pseudophilautus leucorhinus)

Like the blunt-snouted shrub frog, the Pseudophilautus leucorhinus belonged to the family Rhacophoridae and was endemic to Sri Lanka. It goes by several other names, including Marten’s bush frog and pointed-nosed shrub frog. And all the information known about the animal derived from a holotype found in 1856.

Here’s what scientists discovered:

• The white-nosed shrub frogs’ snout-vent length was 20 mm
• It had a dorsally flat head, with an elongated body and invisible tympanum
• Its upper lip and lower parts of the body were pale brownish-yellow
• Its limbs had cross bars, and the toes were only partly webbed
• Habitat loss may have contributed to its extinction

4. Extinct Frogs: Pseudophilautus malcolmsmithi

Here’s another extinct species in the family Rhacophoridae, and a native to Sri Lanka. Its only found specimen was a mature female with a 14.9 mm SVL, an oval tympanum, medially-webbed toes, and fingers without dermal fringes. Other features of this frog were:

• A smooth dorsum
• Granular belly
• Calcar
• No vomerine teeth
• Prominent supratympanic fold
• No tarsal fold

5. Rumassala Shrub Frog (Pseudophilautus zimmeri)

Named after the German zoologist Carl Wilhelm Erich Zimmer, the Rumassala shrub frog was last recorded in Galle, Sri Lanka. Its specific habitat wasn’t discovered, and despite countless expeditions, the species hasn’t been seen anywhere else worldwide. 

This species’ only known specimen was male, and it revealed these characteristics: 

• Canthus with sharp edges 
• Visible tympanum
• Protruding supra-tympanic fold
• Slender body 
• Fingers with dermal fringes 
• Medially-webbed toes 

The Rumassala shrub frog has often been compared to the Knuckles shrub frog (Pseudophilautus fulvus), also a part of the family Pseudophilautus and a Sri Lanka native. Their physical features are quite similar, but Pseudophilautus fulvus is extant and mainly resides in forests, rural gardens, and plantations. 

6. Splendid Poison Frog (Oophaga speciosa) 

Native to Panama, the splendid poison frog had a distinct red color in life but preserved, it turned grey with several light patches. This species lived in humid lowlands and wet montane forests. But due to deforestation and urbanization, it lost its natural habitat and eventually went extinct. Besides, the pet trade massively impacted the frog’s population as its unique red shade made it a rare and highly sought-after organism. 

Female splendid poison frogs exhibited uniparental care. They deposited their eggs in tree litter until they hatched. Then, they moved the tadpoles to small puddles in axils and often returned to feed them. The males typically grew hostile when others threatened to occupy their foraging territories.  

7. White Blotched Shrub Frog (Pseudophilautus zal)

The white blotched shrub frog’s specific name, zal, was inspired by the “sadness and frustration” scientists felt upon losing the species and other amphibians endemic to Sri Lanka. According to a type series with three ancient alcohol-preserved specimens of adult males, the frogs had these features:

• Their bodies were stout
• The tympanum was discernible
• Toes were only partly webbed, and fingers had dermal fringes
• Edges of the canthal ridge were sharp
• The upper parts of the species’ body were light brown with dark brown spots and five white specks
• The amphibian’s lower side was pale yellow

The only known specimens of the white spotted shrub frogs were found in Ceylon. Since it’s a vast region, zoologists haven’t determined the species’ habitat requirements or the causes of its demise.

8. Extinct Frogs: Gastric-Brooding Frogs (Rheobatrachus)

First spotted in Queensland, Australia, in 1973, gastric brooding frogs is a genus with two species that vanished in the mid-1980s. These amphibians, also known as platypus frogs, came with small flat heads, large protruding eyes, and a blunt snout. While the males were smaller than the females, both genders had webbed toes and unwebbed fingers.

Platypus frogs are known for their unique method of incubating their tadpoles. After laying eggs, the females swallowed them as soon as the males fertilized them—they stopped eating for 6-7 weeks so their stomachs would not produce hydrochloric acid, protecting the offspring. 

Biologists believe habitat loss, pollution, and disease led to the extinction of gastric-brooding frogs. In 2013, the University of Newcastle revealed its researchers were working on the “Lazarus Project” to clone this species. Some of their eggs had begun to grow into embryos then, but they only lived for a few days. Although the scientists still preserved the species’ cryo-preserved cells, they are yet to announce plans to perform future cloning experiments to ‘de-extinct’ the amphibians.

9. Extinct Frogs: Pseudophilautus temporalis

Pseudophilautus temporalis is among the many Sri Lanka natives that have faced extinction due to habitat loss and alteration. This frog species was initially named Ixalus temporalis. But in 1985, it was renamed Philautus temporalis; the year when it acquired its current identity remains unknown.

These were some of the characteristics of an adult female representative of this species:

• A slender body
• Round snout in lateral view
• Noticeable tympanum
• Rough, granular yellow belly
• Smooth foot, chest, and shank

10. Gunther’s Streamlined Frog (Nannophrys guentheri)

The Belgian-British zoologist George Boulenger first discovered the Nannophrys guentheri in 1882 and named it after another scientist, Albert Charles Günther. The frog was endemic to Sri Lanka, although the specific location where it was found remains unknown.

The Gunther’s streamlined frog’s specimen showed it was a considerably small species with a short, rounded snout, a tiny head with no bones, and vomerine teeth behind its internal nostrils. Although the amphibian’s fingers didn’t boast the same length, they were all pointed. It also had small but visible light spots at various parts of its body, including the upper lip and limbs. 

11. Mount Glorious Torrent Frog (Taudactylus diurnus)

After failure to trace the Mount Glorious torrent frog past 1979, biologists scoured the wild for years. However, they came up empty, prompting the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to announce the species had died out in 2004. But some of these frogs’ relatives are still extant, such as:

• The northern tinker frog (Taudactylus rheophilus)
• The sharp-snouted day frog (Taudactylus acutirostris)
• The Pleione’s torrent frog (Taudactylus Pleione)
• The Eungella day frog (Taudactylus eungellensis)
• Liem’s frog (Taudactylus liemi)

The Taudactylus diurnus was endemic to Australia and often spotted in different locations, including Conondale, D’Aguilar Ranges, and Blackall. It mainly lived in streams in montane rainforests, preferring regions with rocky soil substrate and plenty of vegetation. In addition, some of the species occupied gorges and exposed areas.

Like many amphibians, the Mount Glorious torrent frog craved insects and flat-bodied crustaceans. It bred in hot weather, with the females laying up to 36 eggs in the water under marine debris and rocks to protect them from currents and maximize their chances of hatching.

Why Did the Taudactylus diurnus Go Extinct?

Here are the factors that pushed the Mount Glorious torrent frog to extinction:

• Feral pigs contaminated their water, making it tricky for them to reproduce
• Feral pigs ate them
• Chytridiomycosis, an infectious disease that wipes out amphibian populations
• Invasive plant species, such as Ageratina riparia and Lantana camera.

12. Pattipola Shrub Frog (Pseudophilautus halyi)

This extinct category of amphibians was native to Sri Lanka. Amyrald Haly, the first director of the Colombo National Museum, collected its only known holotype in 1899, letting the world in on what the frogs looked like.

An adult Pattipola shrub frog had a snout–vent length of 28 mm, with a discernible tympanum, sharp cantal edges, and a stout body. While its fingers boasted visible dermal fringes, the toes were only webbed partially. In addition, the species’ skin was shagreened with glandular warts.

13. Pseudophilautus dimbullae

In 1933, a specimen of the extinct Pseudophilautus dimbullae was discovered in Queenwood Estate, Dimbulla, Ceylon. Biologists suspected habitat destruction caused the demise of the frog species, which had the following physical attributes:

• An elongated frame with a truncate snout in lateral view 
• A visibly angled tympanum
• Dorsally shagreened skin
• Medially-webbed toes and rudimentary webbed fingers
• Prominent supratympanic fold
• A light-brown upper lip and a yellow lower lip

14. The Golden Toad (Incilius periglenes)

As naturalists say, “all toads are frogs, but not all frogs are toads,” meaning the now-extinct Golden toad was a member of the frog family. A true toad last seen in Costa Rica’s Monteverde Cloud Forest in 1989, this short-legged animal was most comfortable underground and only came out to mate in April. The IUCN put it on the list of extinct amphibians in 2004 after no one spotted it for 15 years.

At first, researchers thought humans were responsible for the disappearance of the Golden toad because of their contribution to climate change. But as it turned out, chytrid fungus – the killer invasive fungus that causes chytridiomycosis, was the main culprit. Still, some biologists visit the shadowy Monteverde cloud forest hoping to glimpse the genuinely stunning wild creature.

15. Spiny-Knee Leaf Frog (Phrynomedusa fimbriata)

You could have easily found the spiny-knee leaf frog in São Paulo, Brazil, in the early 1890s. However, despite multiple expeditions, no one has traced the animal since 1898. Consequently, everything known about it is based on a now-run-down holotype collected in the year it was last seen. Ventrally, the specimen was reddish-yellow, but a posterior view showed a pale blue shade.

Furthermore, the spiny-knee leapfrog was stronger than most frogs in the genus Phrynomedusa. A dorsal view revealed it had an acuminate snout, a visible tympanum, and slender limbs. Moreover, its fingers and toes featured round adhesive discs with minimal webbing. And the reason this species’ population declined remains a mystery.

16. Craugastor myllomyllon

With its volcanic landscapes and dense tropical rainforests, Guatemala was once home to the Craugastor myllomyllon in the family Craugastoridae. The origin of this extinct frog species is unknown, as are the factors that forced it to die out. However, zoologists presume it was habitat loss.

Luckily, a holotype of an immature female frog exists to give us an idea of what the species looked like. Its features were:

• An ill-defined tympanum
• A round snout in dorsal view
• Toes with decent webbing and defined lateral fringes
• A pale cream chin and throat
• Limps with dark, weak crossbars

17. Corquin Robber Frog (Craugastor anciano)

A native to Honduras’ Cordillera de Celaque, the Craugastor anciano was one of the rarest frog species in the family, Craugastoridae. Its habitats were mainly the land along streams and lower montane and moist premontane forests. Many people believe chytridiomycosis and habitat loss caused the extinction of this species.

Extinct Frogs That Lived on our Planet 

Time, combined with pollution, climate change, deadly pathogens, habitat loss, and the influx of invasive species, has – regrettably – wiped these 17 frogs off the face of the earth. Unfortunately, they aren’t the only victims; many more are at imminent risk. This begs the need to protect endangered frog species before we lose some of the most magical life forms.

Take, for instance, the lemur frog, a magnificent green species that turns brown at night to hunt. Biologists are worried we might not see much of them in the future. But imagine what eliminating those threats could do for the creature’s population.

Meanwhile, other types of frogs continue to amaze us with their tenacity. A great example is the Vegas Valley leopard frog, the Las Vegas native declared defunct in 1996, only to be spotted in central Arizona in 2011. It now has a new identity—the Chiricahua leopard frog.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Agustin Herrera C/Shutterstock.com