Leptomantis bimaculatus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Leptomantis bimaculatus |
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Leptomantis bimaculatus is a fascinating type of frog! It belongs to the moss frog family, which scientists call Rhacophoridae. A scientist named Wilhelm Peters first described this frog in 1867. You can only find this frog in the Philippines, which means it is endemic there. It lives on islands like Bohol, Mindanao, and the southern part of Luzon. Scientists think it might live on other islands too.
This frog lives in trees, so it's called an arboreal frog. People have seen it near water in untouched forests. These forests are usually high up, between 500 and 600 meters (about 1,640 to 1,970 feet) above sea level.
How Scientists Name Animals
Scientists give every living thing a special name. This helps everyone know exactly which animal or plant they are talking about. Sometimes, these names change as scientists learn more.
The Changing Name of Leptomantis bimaculatus
When this frog was first found, it was put in the genus Leptomantis. Its full name was L. bimaculata. Later, in 1922, another scientist accidentally described it again, giving it a different name: Philautus zamboangensis.
For a while, the genus Leptomantis was combined with another genus called Rhacophorus. So, our frog's name became Rhacophorus bimaculatus. But there was already another frog named R. bimaculatus by a scientist named George Albert Boulenger in 1882! To avoid confusion, Boulenger's frog was renamed to R. bipunctatus.
More recently, scientists decided that Leptomantis should be its own separate genus again. So, our frog went back to being called Leptomantis bimaculatus.
Confusion with Other Frogs
For some time, scientists thought that similar frogs found in Indonesia and Malaysia were also Leptomantis bimaculatus. But after more study, they realized these were different species. The frog from the west is now known as R. cyanopunctatus. Even some Tadpoles from Borneo were mistakenly thought to be R. bimaculatus. It turned out they were actually R. cyanopunctatus or R. gauni. This shows how careful scientists must be when identifying and naming species!
