Zhangixalus schlegelii

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Zhangixalus schlegelii
Rhacophorus schlegelii.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Rhacophoridae
Genus: Zhangixalus
Species:
Z. schlegelii
Binomial name
Zhangixalus schlegelii
(Günther, 1858)
Synonyms
  • Polypedates schlegeliiGünther, 1858
  • Rhacophorus microglossusBoulenger, 1882
  • Rhacophorus schlegelii(Günther, 1858)

Zhangixalus schlegelii (common names: Japanese gliding frog, Schlegel's green tree frog, Schlegel's flying frog, Schlegel's tree frog) is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. [1] [2] [3] It is endemic to Japan and found in Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu [1] [3] as well as the Ryukyu Islands. [2] It is named after Hermann Schlegel, a 19th-century German zoologist. [4]

Contents

Description

Males measure 32–43 mm (1.3–1.7 in) and females 43–53 mm (1.7–2.1 in) in snout–vent length. The males have yellowish white nuptial pads, darkly colored throat, and a pair of slit-like vocal openings. The webbing of the fingers and toes is not well developed; the finger tips have truncated discs with circummarginal grooves. The dorsal skin is almost completely smooth. The supra-tympanic fold is prominent, but there is no dorsolateral fold. [3]

Reproduction

Female (bottom) and male (top) in their underground nest. PSM V59 D081 Underground nest of japanese frog.png
Female (bottom) and male (top) in their underground nest.

Rhacophorus schlegelii breed in underground foam nests:

In Japan there is also a nest-making frog which is said to lay its eggs sometimes amongst leaves on bushes or trees. However, its usual habit is to make a nest in the ground as indicated in Fig. 3. Awakening from their winter sleep, the frogs crawl along the edges of rice fields and swamps and dig out holes above the water level. The female carries the much smaller male, and both become buried in a hole 6–9 cm. wide and 10–15 cm. above the surface of the water. This nest cavity is smoothed inside by the movements of the female and is then, in the night, supplied with a ball of white matter full of air-bubbles. This is tough and elastic and 6–7 cm. thick. This mass is to supply moisture and air for the young. It emerges from the cloaca along with the eggs, and is then kneaded thoroughly by remarkable movements of the feet of the female. Stretching out and closing the toes, she mixes the sticky mass with air and breaks the big bubbles up into smaller and smaller foam. Similar movements of the feet of the male drive the mass backward and leave the eggs more free for the fertilization that follows. When the eggs have been fertilized and provided with a protecting and aerating mass, the parents break out from the nest and take up their life amongst the trees. The foam mass meanwhile gradually becomes liquid, and flowing out through the hole the parents left on leaving the nest, carries the young into the outside water. [5]

Habitat and conservation

It occurs in temperate wetlands and forests from hilly areas to lowland areas, especially in paddy fields, which are its main breeding place. It is not considered threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). [1]

Related Research Articles

Rhacophoridae Family of amphibians

The Rhacophoridae are a family of frogs that occur in tropical sub-Saharan Africa, South India and Sri Lanka, Japan, northeastern India to eastern China, south through the Philippines and Greater Sundas, and Sulawesi. They are commonly known as shrub frogs, or more ambiguously as "moss frogs" or "bush frogs". Some Rhacophoridae are called "tree frogs". Among the most spectacular members of this family are numerous "flying frogs".

<i>Rhacophorus</i> Genus of amphibians

Rhacophorus is a genus of frogs in the shrub frog family (Rhacophoridae)and the related Hylidae make up the true tree frogs. They are found in India, Japan, Madagascar, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Over 40 species are currently recognised.

Myobatrachidae Family of amphibians

Myobatrachidae, commonly known as Australian ground frogs or Australian water frogs, is a family of frogs found in Australia and New Guinea. Members of this family vary greatly in size, from species less than 1.5 cm (0.59 in) long, to the second-largest frog in Australia, the giant barred frog, at 12 cm (4.7 in) in length. The entire family is either terrestrial or aquatic frogs, with no arboreal species.

Wallaces flying frog Species of amphibian

Wallace's flying frog, also known as the gliding frog or the Abah River flying frog, is a moss frog found at least from the Malay Peninsula into western Indonesia, and is present in Borneo and Sumatra. It is named for the biologist, Alfred R. Wallace, who collected the first known specimen.

Zhangixalus omeimontis is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae endemic to China. Its common name is Omei whipping frog or Omei treefrog, in reference to its type locality, Mount Emei (Chinese: 峨嵋山; pinyin: Éméi Shān; Wade–Giles: O2-mei2 Shan1) in Sichuan. It is found in southern and central China in Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, and Hubei provinces. It is a relatively common frog that inhabits forests, and sometimes farmland. It breeds in still water (pools and ponds). Agriculture and logging are threats to this species.

Zhangixalus achantharrhena is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to Sumatra (Indonesia) and known from a number of high-elevation localities ranging from Aceh in the northwest to Lampung in the southeast. The specific name achantharrhena, from the Greek nouns akantha and arrhen (=male), refers to a characteristic of males of this species: skin covered by tiny spicules.

<i>Zhangixalus arboreus</i> Species of amphibian

Zhangixalus arboreus, also known as the forest green tree frog and Kinugasa flying frog, is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae endemic to Japan.

<i>Zhangixalus arvalis</i> Species of frog

Zhangixalus arvalis is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to western and southwestern Taiwan and is present in agricultural areas of Chiayi, Yunlin, and Tainan Counties. Common name farmland green treefrog has been coined for it.

Zhangixalus aurantiventris is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to Taiwan. It is known from scattered localities across Taiwan at low to mid altitudes.

Chinese flying frog Species of amphibian

The Chinese flying frog or Chinese gliding frog is a species of tree frog in the family Rhacophoridae found in China, Laos, Burma, and Vietnam. It is also known as Blanford's whipping frog, large treefrog, and Denny's whipping frog.

Rhacophorus exechopygus is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is found in the Central Highlands of Vietnam and in the adjacent Annamite Range in Laos. Its range may extend into northeastern Cambodia where suitable habitat should be present. The specific name exechopygus is derived from the Greek words exechos and pygos (=buttocks), referring to the infra-anal projection characteristic of this frog. Its common names are spinybottom tree frog and Tramlap flying tree frog.

Leptomantis gauni is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to Borneo and is found in Sabah and central Sarawak (Malaysia), Brunei, and north-eastern Kalimantan (Indonesia). The specific name gauni honours Gaun Sureng, a collector for the Sarawak Museum and a companion to Robert F. Inger on field trips when this species was observed. Common names short-nosed tree frog and Inger's flying frog have been coined for it.

<i>Leptomantis harrissoni</i> Species of frog

Leptomantis harrissoni, common name Harrisson's flying frog or brown tree frog, is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to northern Borneo.

<i>Zhangixalus smaragdinus</i> Species of amphibian

Zhangixalus smaragdinus is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae found in southwestern China, north-eastern India, Nepal, western Thailand, and northern Vietnam, and possibly in Bangladesh.

<i>Zhangixalus moltrechti</i> Species of amphibian

Zhangixalus moltrechti is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to Taiwan, where it has a wide distribution in hilly areas. Common names Moltrecht's green treefrog, Moltrecht's treefrog, Taiwan treefrog, and Nantou flying frog have been coined for it.

The Malayan flying frog is a species of frog in the moss frog family (Rhacophoridae). It is found in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Rhacophorus vampyrus is a medium-sized species of flying frogs endemic to Vietnam. It is found in montane evergreen forests at 1470–2004 m. It is also known as the vampire tree frog or the vampire flying frog because of the presence of a pair of fang-like hooks in mouth of the tadpoles. Its Vietnamese name is Ếch cây ma cà rồng. The frog is adapted to arboreal living with webbings of feet that allow it to glide between trees. The first specimen was discovered in 2008 by Jodi Rowley of the Australian Museum at Sydney, Australia, and her student Le Thi Thuy Duong from Ho Chi Minh City University of Science. After collecting more specimens in 2009 and 2010, her team described the new species in the journal Zootaxa in 2010.

Leptomantis belalongensis is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae.

<i>Zhangixalus</i> Genus of amphibians

Zhangixalus is a genus of frogs in the subfamily Rhacophorinae, family Rhacophoridae. They are collectively known as Zhang's treefrogs. They occur in the Eastern Himalayas, southern China, Taiwan, Japan, and southeast Asia.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2021). "Zhangixalus schlegelii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2021: e.T59021A177226326. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T59021A177226326.en . Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 Frost, Darrel R. (2016). "Rhacophorus schlegelii (Günther, 1858)". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "Rhacophorus schlegelii". AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. [web application]. Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  4. Bo Beolens; Michael Watkins; Michael Grayson (22 April 2013). The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians. Pelagic Publishing. p. 191. ISBN   978-1-907807-44-2.
  5. 1 2 Andrews, E. A. (1901). "The Frog as Parent". Popular Science Monthly. 59 (May 1901): 68–80.