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Waxy Monkey Tree Frog — printable fact sheet
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Waxy Monkey Tree Frog
Phyllomedusa sauvagii
The waxy monkey tree frog (Phyllomedusa sauvagii) lives in the dry Gran Chaco of South America, a place where an ordinary frog would desiccate within hours, and it survives by waterproofing itself. Glands in its skin secrete a lipid wax, and the frog wipes this over its entire b…
Did you know?
- Unlike most frogs, Waxy Monkey Tree Frogs are resistant to dehydration and can thrive in relatively arid environments.
- It waterproofs itself by wiping a waxy secretion over its entire body with all four limbs, in a routine so consistent that researchers can time it. It excretes uric acid rather than urea, like a reptile, which saves it almost all the water a normal frog would lose. Its skin produces dermorphin, an opioid roughly a thousand times more potent than morphine, which has been detected as an illegal doping agent in racehorses. Rather than hopping, it walks slowly hand over hand along branches, which is where the "monkey" in its name comes from.
What I learned
Draw the waxy monkey tree frog
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