Pinocchio frog

The Pinocchio frog or northern Pinocchio treefrog (Litoria pinocchio) is a frog from the island of New Guinea. It lives in the Foja Mountains in Indonesia.

This frog is green, brown and yellow in color.  The male frog has a point on the end of its nose.  The point can get bigger or smaller at different times, but scientists do not know exactly why.

Scientists saw that the point on the male frog's nose becomes bigger while the male frog is singing, so they think it might be part of impressing female frogs.  Other scientists think it makes it easier for Pinocchio frogs to recognize other Pinocchio frogs and tell them apart from other frogs that look similar and live in the same place.

The Pinocchio frog is named after the fictional character Pinocchio, a puppet whose nose becomes bigger whenever he tells a lie.  Scientists have known the Pinocchio frog existed since at least 2008.  It was first formally described, meaning scientists wrote the first scientific paper about it, in 2019.

References

Category:Frogs of Oceania