Cool Things You Have To Know!
- Helen’s Flying Frog was discovered in 2009 by an Australian researcher, Dr. Joki Rowley.
- This new frog species was given the name “Helen’s” in tribute of the Dr. Rowley’s mom. I think we should all have the opportunity to name an animal in honour of our parents, don’t you?
- This particular frog has only been found in an area just outside of Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam – it is quite surprising that a new amphibian species could be discovered outside of such a large metropolis. It just goes to show that you never know where a new animal may turn up.
Does the Helen’s Flying Frog really fly?
Of course, it does! I mean, not in the same way that the Bald Eagle or the Little Brown Bat flies but they are certainly capable of gliding from tree to tree just like a flying squirrel would. In fact, these frogs even have the flaps to help them carry out this task. That’s right, these rare frogs actually flaps of skin attached to their forearms to assist with gliding…and to use as a super cool parachute if they need to. And to think that so many people try to get rid of the flaps on their arms when we could be using this to FLY!
Easy Come….Easy Go
Unfortunately one of the downfalls of living near a major city is that there is a pretty good chance your home will be destroyed as the city continues to grow. And that is the case with this newly discovered frog species. At this point, only 5 individuals have been found in two small patches of land, however, researchers believe there are more out there but these frogs are difficult to spot since they spend most of their time high in the trees (they typically only come to the ground during mating season). As the large Vietnamese city continues to grow, it is almost certain that this small population of Flying Frogs will be wiped off the face of the earth just as quickly as they were discovered.
