GV

GeezerVison

The World Wide Web, restored to 800 pixels of glory.

Home|About|Gaming cabinet|Archives|How it works|Starter sites

On this site

  • Main page
  • Contents
  • Current events
  • Random article
  • About Wikipedia
  • Contact us
  • Help
  • Learn to edit
  • Community portal
  • Recent changes
  • Upload file
  • Special pages
  • Search
  • Donate

This view

  • Original page
  • New address

GeezerVison is showing en.wikipedia.org — Flying frog - Wikipedia

Wallace's flying frog (Rhacophorus nigropalmatus)

A flying frog (also called a gliding frog) is a frog that has the ability to achieve gliding flight. This means it can descend at an angle less than 45° relative to the horizontal. Other nonflying arboreal frogs can also descend, but only at angles greater than 45°, which is referred to as parachuting.[1]

Evolution

Gliding flight has evolved independently several times among frogs from both New World (Hylidae) and Old World (Rhacophoridae) families.[1][2] This parallel evolution is seen as an adaptation to their life in trees, high above the ground. Characteristics of the Old-World species include "enlarged hands and feet, full webbing between all fingers and toes, lateral skin flaps on the arms and legs, and reduced weight per snout-vent length".[2] These morphological changes contribute to the flying frogs' aerodynamic abilities.

Taxonomy

Alfred Russel Wallace made one of the earliest reports of a flying frog.[3] The species he observed was later described by George Albert Boulenger as Rhacophorus nigropalmatus.

Flying or gliding frogs include members of these genera:

  • Agalychnis (Hylidae)
  • Ecnomiohyla (Hylidae)
  • Polypedates (Rhacophoridae)
  • Zhangixalus (Rhacophoridae)

There are 380 species of flying frogs.

References

  1. 1 2 Emerson, S.B., Travis, J., & Koehl, M.A.R. (1990). "Functional complexes and additivity in performance: A test case with 'flying' frogs." Evolution, 44(8), 2153-2157.
  2. 1 2 Emerson, S.B., & Koehl, M.A.R. (1990). "The interaction of behavioral and morphological change in the evolution of a novel locomotor type: 'Flying' frogs." Evolution, 44(8), 1931-1946.
  3. ↑ Oliver, J.A. (1951). "'Gliding' in amphibians and reptiles, with a remark on an arboreal adaptation in the lizard, Anolis carolinensis carolinesis Voigt." The American Naturalist, 85(822), 171-176.

External links

Wikimedia Commons logo
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rhacophorus nigropalmatus.


Stub icon

This frog-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

  • v
  • t
  • e
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flying_frog&oldid=1383507295"
Categories:
  • Frogs
  • Gliding animals
  • Frog stubs
Hidden categories:
  • Articles with short description
  • Short description is different from Wikidata
  • Commons category link is locally defined
  • All stub articles
You are visitor 01402503 — GeezerVison does not store the pages you look up.
Best viewed with Netscape Navigator 4.7 or Internet Explorer 6 at 800×600. No cookies required.