뉴질랜드

 

남태평양에 있는 섬나라.   천혜의 자연  아름다운나라.....

오스트레일리아에서 동남쪽으로 약 1,600km 떨어져 있으며 수도는 웰링턴이다. 남위 33~53°사이(남북 길이 1,600km), 서경 162~173°사이(동서 길이 450km)에 있다. 폭 32km의 쿡 해협을 끼고 있는 2개의 주요 섬인 노스·사우스 섬과 기타 많은 작은 섬으로 이루어져 있다. 지리적으로 다른 나라들과 동떨어져 있어서 사회적·문화적·경제적으로 특징 있는 발전을 이룩했다. 면적 270,534㎢, 인구 4,001,000(2003 추계)

Hamilton's frog
Leiopelma hamiltoni
Leiopelma pakeka n.sp.

  http://www.terranature.org/living_fossils.htm

 

Hamilton's frog

Hochstetter's frog
Leiopelma hochstetteri (below)
Archey's frog
Leiopelma archeyi (right)

Prehistoric Hamilton's, Hochstetter's and Archey's frogs of the genus Leiopelma are the most ancient and the most primitive frogs in the world.  Four species are only found in New Zealand, and are 'living fossils', very similar to frogs in fossils found in Queensland, Australia from the late Jurassic 150 million years ago.

A rare feature of Hamilton's and Archey's frogs is that they have no webbing between their toes.  They occupy a broad range of forest environments without being tied to the water habitat of lakes, ponds or streams.  Hochstetter's frog has partial toe webbing and can be found in stream margins.

New Zealand native frogs are unique because they do not go through a tadpole stage, but instead develop totally within a gelatinous capsule derived from an egg.  The father cares for the infant in three of the species. Male Archey's frogs carry infants on their back.

A primitive feature retained by Leiopelma frogs is their tail-wagging muscles, that no longer have a tail to wag.  They do not croak as a normal frog, but instead let out a thin high pitched squeak, because eardrums or vocal sacs have never developed.