By: Kate M. Serrano
We’ve heard of vampire bats, catfish and moths. Here’s a new addition to
the lineage that came even before Twilight made the scene – the vampire frog. Discovered
in 2008 by Judy Rowley of the Australian Museum and her student Le Thi Thuy
Duong from Ho Chi Minh City University of Science, vampire frogs (Rhacophorus
vampyrus) are not necessarily blood suckers but were named as such because of
the presence of black fangs in tadpoles used for feeding.
This unusual frog has
adapted for life in trees, using its webbed fingers and toes for moving and
gliding hence it is also called the “flying frog.” They use water holes in
trees to breed protect their young from all predators that lurk in rivers and
ponds. The first vampire frog was discovered in the unexplored Langbian Plateau
cloud forest of southern Vietnam in March 2008 but it wasn’t until 2010 that
the scientist observed the fangs protruding from the underside of a tadpole’s
mouth while examining it under a microscope. One cool thing about the frog? It
changes color! In daylight it’s a pale tan, but at night it’s stunning brick
red. Very little information is known about this creature in terms of life
history, abundance, activity and special behaviours though. But one thing is certain:
we would not want this red listed in the endangered species category.
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