[1][3] The species was first discovered by Mike Tyler in 1970, but was thought at the time to be an isolated eastern population of Pseudophryne occidentalis, and was not formally described until 2012.

The specific epithet honours Dr Tony Robinson, formerly of the South Australian Department for the Environment and Natural Resources.

[2] Colouration of the warty upper body is pale brown, khaki or grey, with dark blotches, and with pale orange-brown patches on the upper arms.

[2][4] The species occurs in the arid Everard and Musgrave Ranges of extreme north-western South Australia, in Australia's Central Ranges bioregion.

There the frogs are found in the vicinity of waterholes and spring-fed pools, sheltering in crevices and beneath rocks and collapsed vegetation.