Odd-colored creature, ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ sighting

“It was after dark when we first spotted it, perched on a bench in the workshop near our research center,” Jake Barker, an ecologist with the conservancy, said in the release.

They recognized the amphibian as a magnificent tree frog, or Litoria splendida, but instead of having the normal green coloring, this frog was bright blue.

A magnificent tree frog with rare blue coloring. Photo from J. Barker and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy A photo shows the frog’s “spectacular” coloring.

Aside from a green patch atop its head, the rest of its body is a blend of sky blue and lavender.

This atypical coloring is due to an “extremely rare” genetic mutation, the conservancy said. “Very occasionally, a green frog is missing yellow pigment in its skin, and it results in an entirely or mostly blue frog,” Jodi Rowley, a curator of amphibians and reptiles with the Australian Museum, said in the release.

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