Amphibians
Vampire Flying Frog
Rhacophorus vampyrus · also called vampire flying frog
The vampire flying frog was unknown to science until 2010, when researchers in the mountain forests of southern Vietnam described a striking new flying frog — and an even stranger tadpole, one carrying a pair of small, hooked, black fangs found nowhere else in the adult frog it eventually becomes.
Overview
The vampire flying frog, Rhacophorus vampyrus, is a recently discovered tree frog from montane rainforest in southern Vietnam. Adults glide between trees using extensively webbed fingers and toes, while females lay eggs in a foam nest suspended above small, water-filled tree-hole nurseries.
Fangs only a tadpole needs
The species’ fanged tadpoles use their hooked mouthparts to scrape unfertilised eggs and organic matter from the walls of their enclosed nursery pool — a feeding strategy unlike the algae-grazing typical of most tadpoles, and a trait that vanishes entirely once metamorphosis is complete.
Status
Data Deficient — described too recently, from too narrow a known range, for researchers to confidently assess its population size or trend, though ongoing logging pressure on Vietnam’s mountain forests is a plausible concern.
Vampire Flying Frog: common questions
Why do only the tadpoles of the vampire flying frog have fangs?
The small, hooked, black fang-like structures serve a specific larval feeding function, helping the tadpole scrape unfertilised eggs and organic material from the walls of the small, enclosed, water-filled tree hole it develops in, a food source and feeding method quite different from the algae-grazing typical of most tadpoles in open ponds. Once the tadpole undergoes metamorphosis into an adult frog with an entirely different diet and feeding method, based on hunting insects, these specialised larval fang structures are no longer needed and do not persist into the adult stage.
How does the vampire flying frog actually glide?
Like other species in its genus, the vampire flying frog has fingers and toes connected by extensive webbing that can be spread wide when the frog leaps from a height in the rainforest canopy, dramatically increasing the surface area exposed to the air and allowing it to glide at a controlled angle to a lower branch or the ground rather than simply falling. This gliding ability likely helps the frog move efficiently between trees and escape predators without needing to descend all the way to the forest floor.
When and where was the vampire flying frog discovered?
The species was formally described as new to science in 2010, based on specimens collected from montane rainforest in southern Vietnam, making it a relatively recent addition to the diversity of known flying frog species. Its formal description came after careful examination distinguished it from other, similar-looking flying frog species already known from the region, based partly on the fanged tadpoles, which had not previously been documented in quite the same form.
Why is the vampire flying frog's conservation status listed as unknown?
Because the species was only formally described in 2010 and appears to be known from a fairly limited area of southern Vietnamese montane forest, researchers do not yet have enough survey data on its full geographic range, total population size, or population trend to confidently assign a more specific conservation status. It has therefore been classified as Data Deficient, a designation used when a species may well be at risk but current scientific knowledge is simply insufficient to determine how threatened it actually is.