Montane Pinocchio frog

The montane Pinocchio frog (Litoria vivissimia) is a frog from the island of New Guinea. Scientists saw it on Hides Ridge in the Southern Fold Mountains in Papua New Guinea.[1] Like the Pinocchio frog, it has a point on its nose that can grow or shrink.[2][3]

Montane Pinocchio frog
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Pelodryadidae
Genus: Litoria
Species:
L. vivissimia
Binomial name
Litoria vivissimia
Oliver, Richards, and Donnellan, 2019

The male adult frog is about 28.6 mm long from nose to rear end. It is light yellow-brown in color with light green patches and more yellow on its legs. It has a spike on its nose, and all of its toes are webbed.[4]

As of 2019, scientists only saw Litoria vivissimia once,[3] in Central Cordillera. The scientists used DNA barcoding to examine Litoria vivissimia and its relatives, the parachuting frog and the Pinocchio frog.[5]

The Latin name of this frog, vivissimia, means "cheeky monkey."[6]

References

  1. "Litoria vivissimia Oliver, Richards, and Donnellan, 2019". Amphibian Species of the World 6.0, an Online Reference. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  2. "Litoria vivissimia". Amphibiaweb. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Carley Rosengreen (June 7, 2019). "Frog discoveries have scientists hopping". Griffith University. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  4. "Litoria vivissimia". Plazi. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  5. 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.
  6. Meilan Solly (June 10, 2019). "Meet the Newly Described Long-Nosed Pinocchio Frog". Smithsonian Museum. Retrieved July 9, 2020.