| Parachuting frog | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| 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 | |
| |
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, reminiscent of a human steering a parachute with warping. 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]
