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Parachuting frog

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(Redirected from Nyctimystes pterodactyla)

Parachuting frog
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Hylidae
Genus: Nyctimystes
Species:
N. pterodactyla
Binomial name
Nyctimystes pterodactyla
(Oliver, Richards, and Donnellan, 2019)
Synonyms
  • Litoria pterodactyla Oliver, Richards, and Donnellan, 2019

The parachuting frog (Nyctimystes pterodactyla), or pale-eyed parachuting tree frog, is a species of frog found in New Guinea.[1] It is in the Nyctimystes gramineus complex with the Pinocchio frog and montane Pinocchio frog.[2][3]

The frog uses its webbed toes to steer when it jumps out of trees, like a human in a parachute. As of 2019, scientists had only seen the parachuting frog once.[3] They found it in the Muller mountain range, 515 meters above sea level.[1]

The scientists used DNA barcoding to examine the parachuting frog and other species found nearby, the Pinocchio frog and montane Pinocchio frog.[4]

The scientific name of this frog, pterodactyla, means "wings on its fingers" and comes from Latin.[3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Nyctimystes pterodactyla (Oliver, Richards, and Donnellan, 2019)". American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  2. ^ "Litoria pterodactyla". Amphibiaweb. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Carley Rosengreen (June 7, 2019). "Frog discoveries have scientists hopping". Griffith University. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  4. ^ Paul Oliver; Stephen J. Richards; Stephen C. Donnellan (2019). "Two new species of treefrog (Pelodrydidae: Litoria) from southern New Guinea elucidated by DNA barcoding". Zootaxa (abstract). 4609 (3): 469. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4609.3.4. PMID 31717094. S2CID 182921660. Retrieved July 9, 2020.