Parachuting frog
| Parachuting frog | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Family: | Pelodryadidae |
| Genus: | Sandyrana |
| Species: | S. pterodactyla |
| Binomial name | |
| Sandyrana pterodactyla (Oliver, Richards, and Donnellan, 2019) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The parachuting frog (Sandyrana pterodactyla), or pale-eyed parachuting tree frog, is a species of frog found in New Guinea.[1]
The frog uses its webbed toes to steer when it jumps out of trees, reminiscent of a human steering a parachute with warping. As of 2019, scientists had only seen the parachuting frog once.[2] 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.[3]
The scientific name of this frog, pterodactyla, means "wings on its fingers" and comes from Latin.[2]
References
- 1 2 Frost, Darrel R. (2026). "Sandyrana pterodactyla (Oliver, Richards, and Donnellan, 2019)". Amphibian Species of the World: An Online Reference. Version 6.2. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 2026-04-04.
- 1 2 Carley Rosengreen (June 7, 2019). "Frog discoveries have scientists hopping". Griffith University. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
- ↑ 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.