Who was 'Molok' ('Tiddalik') the thirsty frog?

'Molok' (or 'Tiddalik', depending on the indigenous language used) is an Australian Indigenous myth that tells a story used to explain the cycles of wet seasons and dry seasons or droughts and floods in Australia.

One day 'Molok woke up with a terrible thirst so he knelt down at a river to drink. And he drank and drank and drank and drank until all the waterholes and rivers in the land ran dry. The land dried out and the trees and grasses were dying.

The other animals in the land came to 'Molok' begging him to release some water as they were suffering. He refused. The animals had to make a plan to get 'Molok' to release water for them. In one version this involves a wise old owl and an eel who made comical shapes (called 'Nabunum') and in another it is only the laughing kookaburras who can get 'Molok' to smile and then laugh, releasing all the water back to the land.

The rivers and waterholes filled and the land was once again lush and green. The animals had plenty of food although in one version, many of them were swept away in the floods.

The story is said to have originated with the Aboriginal people of South Gippsland in Victoria. There is a statue to 'Tiddalik' in Warwick, Queensland.

The tale is thought to refer to the Water-holding frog ('Litoria platycephala'), however in modern times, there is no overlap between the frog's range and where the story originated.