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Below are a number of simple keys for identifying adult frogs based on major regions of South Australia. Not all species are represented in the keys due to their rare occurrence. The keys have been adapted from Mike Tyler's Frogs of South Australia (1977) and the Upper River Torrens Landcare Group's Data Sheet: Frogs of the Mount Lofty Ranges (1998).

To use the key, first select the region where you found the frog. Then, starting at number 1, choose the option that best represents the frog. Read through each alternative, making your way down the key until you reach a match. Double check your match with the photographs and descriptions listed in the Frog Census description link. A glossary of terms is also provided at the bottom of the page.

(1) Mt Lofty Ranges, Central Districts and Adelaide Plains
(2) Murray Valley
(3) South East
(4) Eyre Peninsula
(5) Nullarbor Plain
(6) North West
(7) North East
(8) Flinders Ranges
(9) Yorke Peninsula
(10) Kangaroo Island

Mt Lofty Ranges, Central Districts and Adelaide Plains (9 Species)

1	Discs on toes and fingers	go to 2
	No discs on toes and fingers	go to 4
2	Brown, grey, red or beige body; large discs on toes and fingers	go to 3
	Green or brown & green body; small discs on toes and fingers	Southern Bell Frog (L. raniformis) *
3	Limbs short and stocky, no bars on back	Desert Tree Frog (L. rubella)**
	Limbs long and slender, darker bars on back	Brown Tree Frog (L. ewingi)
4	Large oval glands on back legs; golden stripe under eye	Eastern Banjo Frog (L. dumerili)
	No glands on back legs	Go to 5
5	Hard black shovel on back foot; body has dark blotches on a yellow background	Go to 6
	No black shovel on foot	Go to 7
6	Clearly edged markings on back; loose, baggy skin in groin	Sudell's Frog (N. sudelli)***
	Diffuse markings on back; skin in groin is not loose	Painted Frog (N. pictus)
7	Constricted pupil is a vertical slit; belly pale and smooth	Spotted Grass Frog (L. tasmaniensis)
	Constricted pupil is a horizontal slit; belly black and white	Go to 8
8	Short back legs; belly smooth and marbled with black and white patterns; frog makes walking movement	Bibron's Toadlet (P. bibroni)
	Long back legs; belly is rough and stippled with darker pigment; frog makes large jumping movements	Common Froglet (C. signifera)

*The Southern Bell Frog has a listing of vulnerable. There have been no recordings of it in the region for many years.

**The Desert Tree Frog only occurs in the north-eastern, arid eastern section of the Central Districts.

***Sudell's Frog only occurs in the eastern section of the Central Districts. Some biologists consider the Trilling Frog and Sudell's Frog to be the same species.

Murray River Valley (10 Species)

1	Webbing between toes obvious	Go to 2
	Webbing between toes absent or slight	Go to 4
2	Well developed discs on toes and fingers	Go to 3
	Small discs on toes and fingers	Southern Bell Frog (L. raniformis)
3	Broad stripes on back and /or broad bar on head	Brown Tree Frog (L. ewingi)
	Back has no stripes or bars	Peron's Tree Frog (L. peroni)
4	Large, oval gland on tibia	Eastern Banjo Frog (L. dumerili)
	No gland on tibia	Go to 5
5	Tubercles on foot shovel shaped and raised	Go to 6
	Tubercles on foot flattened	Go to 7
6	Clearly edged markings on back; loose, baggy skin in groin	Sudell's Frog (N. sudelli)*
	Diffuse markings on back; skin in groin is not loose	Painted Frog (N. pictus)
7	Underside cream-white	Go to 8
	Underside stippled or blotched	Go to 9
8	Upper eyelid has crimson patch	Long Thumbed Frog (L. fletcheri)
	No crimson patch on eyelid	Spotted Grass Frog (L. tasmaniensis)
9	Call "crick...crick...crick"; occurs downstream of Walker's Flat	Common Froglet (C. signifera)
	Call is like a "wet finger rubbing a balloon"; upstream of Walker's Flat	Eastern Sign Bearing Froglet  (C. parinsignifera)

 
*Some biologists consider the Trilling Frog and Sudell's Frog to be the same species.

South East Region (12 Species)

1	Webbing between toes obvious	Go to 2
	Webbing of back toes absent or slight	Go to 4
2	Large discs on toes and fingers	Go to 3
	Small discs on toes and fingers	Southern Bell Frog (L. raniformis)
3	Constricted pupil is horizontal	Brown Tree Frog (L. ewingi)
	Pupil is cross-shaped	Peron's Tree Frog (Litoria peroni)
4	Tubercles on foot shovel shaped and raised	Go to 5
	Tubercles on foot only slightly raised	Go to 6
5	Pupils horizontal. Large oval gland on tibia	Eastern Banjo Frog (L. dumerili)
	Pupils vertical. No gland present on tibia	Go to 11
6	Dark markings on the surface of the back with smooth-bordered variegations	Go to 7
	Back unpigmented or marked irregularly with patches or flecks	Go to 8
7	Throat and undersides of limbs pale tan-orange	Southern Toadlet (P. semimarmorata)
	No orange or tan on undersides of limbs	Bibron's Toadlet (P. bibroni)
8	Underside granular	Common Froglet (C. signifera)
	Underside smooth	Go to 9
9	Pale pink spots on groin and thighs	Smooth Frog (G. laevis)
	No pink spots on body	Go to 10
10	Black longitudinal stripes on a yellow-brown background	Brown Striped Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes peroni)
	No black stripes on body	Spotted Grass Frog (L. tasmaniensis)
11	Clearly edged markings on back; loose, baggy skin in groin	Sudell's Frog (N. sudelli)*
	Diffuse markings on back; skin in groin is not loose	Painted Frog (N. pictus)

 
*Some biologists consider the Trilling Frog and Sudell's Frog to be the same species.

Eyre Peninsula (7 Species)

1	Fingers and toes with discs	Brown Tree Frog (L. ewingi)
	Fingers and toes without discs	Go to 2
2	Large, oval gland on tibia	Eastern Banjo Frog (L. dumerili)
	No gland on tibia	Go to 3
3	Tubercles on feet black or edged in black	Go to 4
	Tubercles on feet not black	Go to 5
4	Tubercles only edged in black	Trilling Frog (N. centralis)*
	Tubercles completely black	Painted Frog (N. pictus)
5	Constricted pupil is a vertical slit; belly pale and smooth	Spotted Grass Frog (L. tasmaniensis)
	Constricted pupil is a horizontal slit; belly is black and white	Go to 6
6	Short back legs; belly smooth and marbled with black and white patterns; frog makes walking movement	Bibron's Toadlet (P. bibroni)
	Long back legs; belly is rough and stippled with darker pigment; frog makes large jumping movements	Common Froglet (C. signifera)

 
*Some biologists consider the Trilling Frog and Sudell's Frog to be the same species.

Nullarbor Plain (3 Species)

1	Tubercles on foot flattened	Spotted Grass Frog (L. tasmaniensis)
	Shovel shaped tubercles on feet black or edged in black	Go to 2
2	Tubercles edged in black	Trilling Frog (N. centralis)*
	Tubercles completely black	Painted Frog (N. pictus)

 
*Some biologists consider the Trilling Frog and Sudell's Frog to be the same species.

North West (10 Species)

1	Fingers and toes with discs	Go to 2
	Fingers and toes without discs	Go to 3
2	Body colour green; maximum size 110 mm	Green Tree Frog (L. caerulea)
	Body red-brown; maximum size no more than 45 mm	Desert Tree Frog (L. rubella)
3	Tubercles on foot black	Go to 4
	Tubercles on foot not black	Go to 6
4	Toes fully webbed	Go to 5
	Toes only partly webbed	Desert Spadefoot Toad (N. nichollsi)
5	Body sandy, grey or brown with irregular markings	Trilling Frog (N. centralis)*
	Body golden or light brown with small spots or circles	Shoemaker Frog (N. sutor)
6	Maximum body size 28 mm, body purplish brown	Western Toadlet (P. occidentalis)
	Maximum body size >28 mm	Go to 7
7	Toes partly or fully webbed	Go to 8
	Toes not webbed	Spotted Grass Frog (L. tasmaniensis)
8	Hind limbs with cross bars	Spencer's Frog (L. spenceri)
	Hind limbs without cross bars	Go to 9
9	Eyes small, head flattened	Water Holding Frog (C. platycephala)
	Eyes large	Main's Frog (C. maini)

 *Some biologists consider the Trilling Frog and Sudell's Frog to be the same species.

North East (10 Species)

1	Fingers and toes with discs	Go to 2
	Fingers and toes without discs	Go to 4
2	Body colour green; maximum size 110 mm	Green Tree Frog (L. caerulea)
	Body grey, brown or red; maximum size no more than 45 mm	go to 3
3	Pointed head, long legs	Broad Palmed Frog (L.latopalmata)
	Rounded head, short legs	Desert Tree Frog (L. rubella)
4	Tubercles on foot black	Go to 5
	Tubercles on foot not black	Go to 6
5	Tubercles completely black; call is a short musical trill	Sudell's Frog (N. sudelli)*
	Tubercles only edged in black; call is a long, loud, high-pitched trill	Trilling Frog (N. centralis)*
6	Pupil horizontal or diamond shaped	Go to 7
	Pupil vertical	Go to 9
7	Small tympanum not visible externally	Desert Froglet (C. deserticola)
	Large tympanum clearly visible	Go to 8
8	Eyes small, head flattened	Water Holding Frog (C. platycephala)
	Eyes large	Knife Footed Frog (C. cultripes)
9	Parotoid and inguinal glands enlarged	Small Headed Toadlet (U. capitulata)
	Parotoid and inguinal glands not enlarged	Spotted Grass Frog (L. tasmaniensis)

 *Some biologists consider the Trilling Frog and Sudell's Frog to be the same species.

Flinders Ranges (9 Species)

1	Fingers and toes with discs	Go to 2
	Fingers and toes without discs	Go to 3
2	Limbs short and stocky, no bars on back; restricted to the northern Flinders and Gammon Ranges	Desert Tree Frog (L. rubella)
	Limbs long and slender, darker bars on back; restricted to the southern Flinders Ranges	Brown Tree Frog (L. ewingi)
3	Shovel shaped tubercles on feet	Go to 4
	Tubercles on foot flattened	Go to 6
4	Large oval glands on back legs; golden stripe under eye	Eastern Banjo Frog (L. dumerili)
	No gland on back legs	Go to 5
5	Tubercles on feet edged in black	Trilling Frog (N. centralis)*
	Tubercles completely black	Painted Frog (N. pictus)
6	Constricted pupil is a vertical slit; belly pale and smooth	Spotted Grass Frog (L. tasmaniensis)
	Constricted pupil is a horizontal slit; belly black and white	Go to 7
7	Short back legs; belly smooth and marbled with black and white patterns; frog makes walking movement	Bibron's Toadlet (P. bibroni)
	Long back legs; belly rough and stippled with darker pigment; frog makes large jumping movements	Go to 8
8	Tympanum present; restricted to Southern Flinders Ranges	Common Froglet (C. signifera)
	Tympanum absent; found throughout Flinders and Gammon ranges	Streambank Froglet (C. riparia)

 *Some biologists consider the Trilling Frog and Sudell's Frog to be the same species.

Yorke Peninsula (5 Species)

1	Fingers and toes with discs	Brown Tree Frog (L. ewingi)
	Fingers and toes without discs	Go to 2
2	Pupil horizontal	Common Froglet (C. signifera)
	Pupil vertical	Go to 3
3	Tubercles on foot black	Painted Frog (N. pictus)
	Tubercles on foot not black	Go to 4
4	Large, oval gland on tibia	Eastern Banjo Frog (L. dumerili)
	No gland on tibia	Spotted Grass Frog (L. tasmaniensis)

Kangaroo Island (6 Species)

1	Discs on fingers and toes	Brown Tree Frog (L. ewingi)
	No discs on fingers and toes	Go to 2
2	Large oval gland on tibia	Eastern Banjo Frog (L. dumerili)
	No gland on tibia	Go to 3
3	Tubercles on foot shovel shaped and raised	Painted Frog (N. pictus)
	Tubercles on foot flattened	Go to 4
4	Vertical pupil	Spotted Grass Frog (L. tasmaniensis)
	Horizontal or diamond shaped pupil	Go to 5
5	Belly granular	Common Froglet (C. signifera)
	Belly smooth and marbled in black and white	Bibron's Toadlet (P. bibroni)

Disc
The discs are found on the ends of fingers and toes.

Stippled
Patterned with dots.

Tubercles
A tubercle is a small, rounded bulge on the skin and occurs on the lower surface of the foot.

Tympanum
The tympanum is the name given to the disc shaped ear drum that is commonly observed near the eye of many frogs.

Webbing
As in 'webbed feet,' refers to the fold of skin between the toes or fingers.

Variegated
Marked with irregular patches of different colours.