Watch these tree frogs make some of the most dramatic landings in nature
Slow-motion videos reveal how the amphibians attach to vertical branches in midair
When Chinese flying tree frogs (Polypedates dennysi) leap through the forests of China and Southeast Asia, a single missed connection could send them plummeting to a slimy end. Fortunately, they’ve evolved a few lifesaving contortions to grab hold of vertical branches and trunks, according to a study being published next month in the Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological and Integrative Physiology.
Researchers filmed five of the tree frogs making hundreds of jumps in the lab onto poles of various diameters—ranging from dime-size to the width of a toilet paper roll. The amphibians made split-second adjustments depending on the pole’s diameter and how far off course they had veered. They either sailed past their targets before grabbing on with a sticky-padded hand or foot at the last moment, or belly-flopped heavily against the surface and embraced it.
By far, the frogs preferred to grab poles with an outstretched hand and whip around. But as the poles grew narrower, they used their feet and their bellies more often to stick the challenging landings. Their angles of approach in the air might dictate whether the animals use their gangly limbs or resort to an inevitable belly-flop impact, the researchers propose.
Force sensors under the poles showed that landing on vertical surfaces puts the least stress on the leaping frogs’ bodies. This raises the broader ecological question of whether sticky-footed animals prefer a vertical landing zone when one’s available, the team says.
