Leaping creature — with orange thighs — found in Vietnam forest. It’s a new species
CORRECTION: This story’s headline has been updated to reflect that the frog was found in a Vietnam forest.
The story continues below.
Some people buy their partners flowers to show their appreciation, while others write love letters or make a home-cooked meal.
Tao Thien Nguyen, a researcher at the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, set the bar a little higher — and named a new species after his wife.
In the forests of northwestern Vietnam, Nguyen and a research team were searching the lower branches of the trees when they spotted a small, green frog.
Nearly blending in with the leaves, the frog’s yellow toes and orange thighs gave away its hiding place, according to a study published in ZooKeys on April 8.
The species was identified as a tree frog, a group of frogs that spend their lives hopping from leaf to leaf and branch to branch in forest environments.
The frog had the tell-tale tree frog signs like bright feet and red-colored eyes, but something about it made it a little different.
The frog has a head that is as long as it is wide, the researchers said, and a “large black blotch” on its orange thighs.
The eyes of the frog are also a “red-bronze” color, compared to pale yellow seen in other similar tree frog species, and it is missing spots along its back.
The discovery was a new species, and now it was time to pick a name.
“The species is named after the first author’s wife, Nguyen Thi Thanh Thau, as a token of gratitude for her understanding and strong support of his research activity,” the team wrote. “We recommend Thao’s Tree Frog as the English common name and Ếch cây thảo as the Vietnamese common name.”
The frog, scientific name Zhangixalus thaoae, joins nine other tree frogs from the same genus that call Vietnam home, the researchers said.
While discovered in Vietnam, similar species are found in Laos and throughout southern China, making it possible the Thao’s Tree Frog also ventures further north, according to the study.
The tree frog lives in the lower branches of trees near water sources such as puddles or forest streams, the researchers said.
The species was discovered in Y Ty Commune, in Lao Cai Province, Vietnam, in the northwestern region of the country.
This story was originally published April 9, 2024 at 12:52 PM with the headline "Leaping creature — with orange thighs — found in Vietnam forest. It’s a new species."
