Frogs face mass extinction with new research showing hundreds of species have been lost over three decades due to factors such as pollution and habitat destruction.

If extinction rates continue unabated, hundreds more frog species could be lost within the next century.

Mass extinction: The global frog population is under threat. Credit:Brian Gratwicke

John Alroy, study author and associate professor at Macquarie University's Department of Biological Sciences, analysed international data on the decline in frog populations for his research, to be published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA on Tuesday.

Dr Alroy found 200 of the world's 6355 known frog species died out in a 30-year period from the 1960s to the 1990s.