Flying Frogs by Design
There are several kinds of critters that have the flying moniker, but they do not actually fly. Those that have been designed by the Creator to spend some time in the air can glide impressive distances. No need to fault people for calling them flying whatevers, because they do appear to be doing so for a moment. Flying frogs? It is not Spiteful Sebastian flinging them into the pond, but there are several kinds of tree frogs that can glide nicely (controlled fall) when they have a mind to.
Wallace's flying frog (Rhacophorus nigropalmatus), Flickr / Khao Sok National Park (CC BY-SA 2.0) |
The most famous is ‘Wallace’s Flying Frog’ (Rhacophorus nigropalmatus). The 44 species of the genus Rhacophorus exist widely in sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia, from India to the Philippines.2 They belong to a family of African-Asian shrub or tree frogs, Rachophoridae, which has over 400 species in 21 genera.
You can read all of the article by hopping on over to "The magnificent ‘flying’ frog."