Archey's Frog
CR

Archey's Frog

Leiopelma archeyi

Stable

Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC) via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archey's_frog

Overview

Archey's frog is an archaic species of frog endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. It is one of only three extant species belonging to the taxonomic family Leiopelmatidae. It is found only in the Coromandel Peninsula and near Te Kūiti in the North Island of New Zealand. This species, along with others in the family, have changed little over the past 200 million years, thus they represent "living fossils".

Archey's Frog suffered a severe population crash in the late 1990s attributed to the amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis), which remains present in its forest habitat today. Predation by introduced mammals, particularly rats, poses an ongoing risk to eggs and juveniles given the species' terrestrial nesting and direct development. Its restriction to a few fragmented sites on the Coromandel Peninsula and Whareorino Forest leaves it highly vulnerable to localized habitat disturbance or disease outbreaks despite current population stability.

Threat summary

Habitat

Archey's frog inhabits cool, humid native forests dominated by kauri, rimu, and other indigenous tree species, where it shelters under fallen logs, rock crevices, and dense ground vegetation. The species requires consistently moist microhabitats with temperatures rarely exceeding 15°C, making it highly dependent on intact forest canopy cover and natural water retention.

Forest· major

Conservation measures underway

Invasive/problematic species controlSpecies managementSpecies recoveryEx-situ conservationAwareness & communications

Other threatened species in LEIOPELMATIDAE

Maud Island FrogVU

Maud Island Frog

Leiopelma pakeka

Stable
Hamilton's FrogVU

Hamilton's Frog

Leiopelma hamiltoni

Increasing

Threatened in New Zealand

VU

Copper Shark

Carcharhinus brachyurus

Declining
VU

Wrybill

Anarhynchus frontalis

Declining
VU

Cook's Petrel

Pterodroma cookii

Increasing
VU

Pycroft's Petrel

Pterodroma pycrofti

Increasing

Frequently asked questions

Why is Archey's Frog classified as Critically Endangered?
Archey's Frog is classified as Critically Endangered — facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild — because population sizes are very small, declining sharply, or restricted to a tiny range. Archey's Frog suffered a severe population crash in the late 1990s attributed to the amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis), which remains present in its forest habitat today. Predation by introduced mammals, particularly rats, poses an ongoing risk to eggs and juveniles given the species' terrestrial nesting and direct development. Its restriction to a few fragmented sites on the Coromandel Peninsula and Whareorino Forest leaves it highly vulnerable to localized habitat disturbance or disease outbreaks despite current population stability.
Where does Archey's Frog live?
Archey's Frog occurs in New Zealand. Country-level distribution data is sourced from the IUCN Red List and cross-referenced with GBIF occurrences.
What are the main threats to Archey's Frog?
The main threats to Archey's Frog are 3.2, 5.3, and 8.1. The full IUCN-classified threat record for this species is detailed on the species page.

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