A Rare 'Flasher' Frog That Sparks Its Bright Orange Groin Discovered In Australia (Video)

An extreme frog species that flashes its bright orange groin to deflect from predators is discovered on the east coast of Australia. It is named Mahony's Toadlet, which is identified after Professor Michael Mahony, a famous frog expert and conservationist.

Flasher frog: New species of amphibian found that flashes its genitalia at enemies https://t.co/i0rSB01ivJ

— Maggie (@Blackdelilah) November 5, 2016

The tiny amphibian was found by accident near the airport at Newcastle, about 160 km (100 miles) north of Sydney. It was just bigger than a human fingertip. It has a unique marbled underbelly and bright orange groin.

BBC reports that Dr. Simon Clulow, a researcher from the University of Newcastle found the rare frog species several years ago. On the other hand, it has just been made public as of now. The description of the discovery was published in the scientific journal Zootaxa.

Dr. Clulow said he was actually just working in the field doing some dissimilar studies on frogs that happen to be in the sand beds in Port Stephens and he heard a frog. He further said that the frog's ability to disguise itself is probably why it remained hidden for so long. He added that the frog appears to be in these coastal sand-bed swamps in somewhat a restricted distribution it means that it's probably under threat from things like coastal developments.

The rare frog is native to Australia. It also has glands on its back that look like toads found in the Americas and Europe. There are concerns raised about the future of the toadlet. Dr. Clulow said that it is under threat from coastal developments, sand mining, and several other things. He further said that they think it could be a threatened species. In fact, the place where it was discovered is a red zone impacted by contamination from the Williamtown Air Force Base, according to ABC.