A team of Australian scientists has discovered a curious “chocolate frog”, a tree frog, in the lowland rainforests of New Guinea. Tree frogs are known for their green skin — but due to its brown coloring, researchers named it “chocolate frog”.
“The closest known relative of ‘chocolate frog’ is the Australian green tree frog. The two species look similar except one is usually green, while the new species usually has a lovely chocolate coloring,”said Paul Oliver, the author who described the discovery in a paper in the journal Australian Journal of Zoology.
Australia and New Guinea were linked by land 2. 6 million years ago, which may account for(解释) the reason why they have similar species. But now, New Guinea is covered by rainforest, while northern Australia is mainly savannah(稀树草原). Green tree frogs can be found across northern and eastern Australia and New Guinea. Australian scientists discovered one of the new creatures in 2016, according to the paper, and they think the animal could be widespread across New Guinea.
“The ‘chocolate frog’ lives in very hot and wet areas with lots of crocodiles, which discourages exploration,” co-author Steve Richards said. Although the creatures may look like the magical snacks found in the Harry Potter series, the similarities stop there.
“We later named this new frog species Mira, which means ‘surprised’ or ‘strange’ in Latin, because it was a surprising discovery. It was Australia’s well-known and common tree frogs’ over-looked relative living in the lowland rain-forests of New Guinea,” Oliver said. “Researching into the biotic(生物的) interchange between these two regions is critical to understanding how the rainforest and savannah habitat types have expanded and narrowed over time,” Oliver said. “Our study on divergence(分化) of the new species shows that 5. 3 to 2. 6 million years ago, there was still connectivity between the two species across lowland tropical habitats of northern Australia and New Guinea.”
12. How did the newly found frog get its name at first?
A.By its skin color. | B.By its living place. |
C.By its small number. | D.By its special shape. |
13. Why do Australia and New Guinea have similar frogs?
A.They are both rich in food for frogs. | B.They both have large grass coverage. |
C.They have the same kind of climate. | D.They were linked with each other. |
14. According to Oliver, studying the biotic interchange is the key to ________.
A.predicting existing habitats for animals |
B.knowing about the change in plant cover |
C.recognizing different kinds of animals |
D.protecting the endangered plants |
15. What is the text mainly about?
A.Frog species are widely found in rainforests worldwide. |
B.Australian tree frogs change their coloring in New Guinea. |
C.The geographical environment affects changes in species. |
D.Scientists discovered a new “chocolate frog” in New Guinea. |