Pinocchio frog
The Pinocchio frog or northern Pinocchio treefrog (Litoria pinocchio) is a frog from the island of New Guinea.[3][4] It lives in the Foja Mountains in Indonesia.[5][2][6]
| Pinocchio frog | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Family: | Pelodryadidae |
| Genus: | Litoria |
| Species: | L. pinocchio
|
| Binomial name | |
| Litoria pinocchio (Oliver et al., 2019)[2]
| |
This frog is green, brown and yellow in color. The male frog has a point on the end of its nose. The point can get bigger or smaller at different times, but scientists do not know exactly why.[4]
Scientists saw that the point on the male frog's nose becomes bigger while the male frog is singing, so they think it might be part of impressing female frogs. Other scientists think it makes it easier for Pinocchio frogs to recognize other Pinocchio frogs and tell them apart from other frogs that look similar and live in the same place.[4]
The Pinocchio frog is named after the fictional character Pinocchio, a puppet whose nose becomes bigger whenever he tells a lie. Scientists have known the Pinocchio frog existed since at least 2008. It was first formally described, meaning scientists wrote the first scientific paper about it, in 2019.[4]
References
change- ↑ IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2020). "Northern Pinocchio Treefrog: Litoria pinocchio". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: e.T152341473A152341515. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T152341473A152341515.en. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Litoria pinocchio: Northern Pinocchio Treefrog". Amphibiaweb. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
- ↑ "Litoria pinocchio Oliver, Günther, Mumpuni, and Richards, 2019". Amphibian Species of the World 6.0, an Online Reference. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Meilan Solly (July 10, 2019). "Meet the Newly Described Long-Nosed Pinocchio Frog". Smithsonian. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
- ↑ Paul M. Oliver; Rainer Günther; Mumpuni Mumpuni; Stephen J. Richards (2019). "Systematics of New Guinea treefrogs (Litoria: Pelodryadidae) with erectile rostral spikes: an extended description of Litoria pronimia and a new species from the Foja Mountains (Abstract)". Zootaxa. 4604 (2): zootaxa.4604.2.6. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4604.2.6. PMID 31717193. S2CID 181852228. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
- ↑ Chardynne Joy H. Concio (June 20, 2019). "New "Pinocchio" Frog Discovered in New Guinea". Science Times. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
