Mystery roadkill
This flattened ex-creature was on the road in front of my house this afternoon. The lack of fur or feathers ruled out a mammal or a bird, while the lack of shell fragments ruled out a turtle. It was most likely a frog.
The morphology of the feet, which appear webbed, support the anuran affinity of the deceased.
4 comments:
It's a Flatanna...
;)
Looks like the rare Eastern Sailtoad, a poorly-known species that has evolved a unique two-dimensional body form to maximize aerodynamic lift during rotary flight.
CCC in HI
I am afraid this was the last surviving individual of the Eastern Sailtoad. Maybe I should attempt to extract some DNA from the remains.
It appears that although the Eastern Sailtoad may now be extinct, the Southwestern subspecies still exists in some numbers, or at least was sufficiently abundant in 1978 to allow the undertaking of the First Unofficial World Sail-Toad Championship held near Austin, Texas.
http://www.aroadrun.org/Half_Fast_Lane/1997/Henry_Rono_and_Me.pdf
CCC in HI
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