Documenting rare albinism in a wild amphibian species, this finding highlights ecological implications of color variation.
I report, to my knowledge, one of the first formally documented cases of true albinism in a wild Australian amphibian—an adult spotted marsh frog (Limnodynastes tasmaniensis) observed in western Victoria. The individual, which exhibited complete amelanism, was found in seemingly good health sharing a refuge with conspecifics of typical coloration. Albinism is exceptionally rare in wild amphibians, particularly in adult anurans, due to disadvantageous traits associated with albinism and increased conspicuousness to predators. This observation contributes to the global record of albinism in amphibians and highlights the value of reporting incidental but ecologically meaningful natural history observations.
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Dylan M. Westaway (2025) studied this question.
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