Wollumbin pouched frog

Assa wollumbin, the Wollumbin pouched frog or Mount Wollumbin hip-pocket frog, is a species of small, terrestrial frog endemic to New South Wales, Australia. It is restricted to the slopes of Mount Warning (Wollumbin), where it inhabits rainforest habitat.^[2][3]

Wollumbin pouched frog
Conservation status
Critically endangered  (EPBC Act)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Myobatrachidae
Genus:	Assa
Species:	A. wollumbin
Binomial name
Assa wollumbin Mahony, Hines, Mahony, Moses, Catalano, Myers, and Donnellan, 2021

Previously considered a population of the pouched frog (A. darlingtoni), which was thought to be the only species in the genus, it was described as a new species in 2021 following a rangewide genetic analysis of A. darlingtoni, which found the Wollumbin population to be sufficiently genetically distinct; it is also physically smaller than A. darlingtoni. Despite its distinctiveness, it is separated from populations of A. darlingtoni by only 15 kilometres (9.3 mi); in relation to the ancient Tweed Volcano, A. darlingtoni inhabits the former caldera wall while A. wollumbin inhabits the former volcanic plug that is now Mt. Wollumbin.^[4] As with A. darlingtoni, it shares the unusual parental care where male individuals carry developing tadpoles in subcutaneous pouches on their hips.^[3][4][5]

As of September 2023^[update], it was classified as "Critically Endangered" under the EPBC Act.^[1]