Taylor Swift to be usurped off music charts by an album of frog calls?

Researchers and citizen scientists at FrogID have created "The Songs of Disappearance", a 50-minute-long album of A cappella croaking, bleating and barking of thousands of frogs. ABC News reports that they hope to "leapfrog" superstar Taylor Swift off the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) charts.

The Australian Museum's own FrogID lead scientist Jodi Rowley, says the album was created to raise awareness of Australia's declining frog populations and highlight Australia's wetlands and forests.

"[The tracks are] a collection of professional recordings of frog biologists — many that have never been heard before, including extinct species, which is really haunting."[There are] also submissions from across Australia that people have recorded using the FrogID app." she said.

"The Songs of Disappearance" is a collaborative project of the Australian Museum, FrogID, the Bowerbird Collective, Listening Earth and Mervyn Street of Mangkaja Arts.

This time last year, Bowerbird Collective released an album of the same name that featured various Australian bird calls. The birds were able to soar to No. 2 on the ARIA charts, dethroning music royalties Mariah Carey and ABBA.

Dr Rowley revealed preliminary results from FrogID. "There were 17,500 submissions. So far we've got about 16,300 verified frogs of 96 species. We're currently churning through records trying to get all of the frog calls listened to," she divulged.

Dr Rowley fervently hopes that the album surpasses Taylor Swift on the music charts for people to increase awareness and participation in frog conservationist efforts. She said, "Hearing these animals that used to be calling from the rainforest gullies in South East Queensland ... are now no longer heard, it's really [moving].[Humans] are responsible for the loss of at least four species of frog in Australia and we've got another 40 species hanging on, threatened with extinction."

The album features sound from elusive, critically endangered frogs like the spotted tree frog and the green-thighed frog. The album is set to be released on December 2.