Swamp-wing

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Swamp-wing
A Swamp-wing in The World of Kong
Species Xampoteryx
Wingspan 4-8 inches[1]
First appearance The World of Kong

Swamp-wing is a fictional species of frog that was created for Peter Jackson's 2005 film King Kong, but that did not make it into the film. However, they were documented as real organisms on Skull Island in The World of Kong.

Name

The name Swamp-wing is a reference to the fact that the Xampoteryx lives in the swamp and has wings.

Design

Swamp-wings were odd, tadpole-like black frogs with bulbous eyes, bat-like wing membranes surrounding their bodies, and serrated jaws that created the illusion of teeth. Because of their flight adaptation, Swamp-wings' back legs were abnormally small, and as such their jumps were only used as takeoffs for their gliding. Despite this, they were not very good fliers. Their flights consisted of many short glides sustained by rapid flapping. They had gripping pads on their toes.[2]

Ecology

As a bizarre response to the harsh competition on Skull Island, the local frogs developed into the odd bat-like Swamp-wings. Swamp-wings laid eggs in clusters of hundreds among the reeds and aquatic plants in an attempt to hide them from predators. If any eggs managed to survive the two-week development period, they hatched into ready and active hunters that chased insects and arthropods in the water weeds. At seven weeks old, the tadpoles began to develop legs. Forelimbs developed first and were used to propel Xampoteryx through the water as they came to rely less and less on their tails. At 15 weeks, the froglets greatly resembled adults, and while they could not yet fly, were increasingly losing their reliance on water. At this time, their air breathing forced them out of the water and onto roots, logs, and floating vegetation. Adult Swamp-wings could still swim, but they avoided it due to their being ill-adapted to the activity and thus easy prey. The gripping pads on their toes allowed them to climb and cling to low hanging branches of wet-rooted trees and floating vegetation. Because of their horribly inaccurate flight, Swamp-wings were not able to catch prey while flying. Because of this, they hunted their invertebrates while stationary on their perches. All of the Xampoteryx species were wiped out in a 1948 earthquake that caused the entire island to sink into the ocean.[3]

Gallery

References

This is a list of references for Swamp-wing. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

  1. Weta Workshop. (November 22, 2005) The World of Kong, pp. 116-117. Pocket Books. ISBN-10: 1-4165-0519-9. ISBN-13: 978-4798611372.
  2. Weta Workshop. (November 22, 2005) The World of Kong, pp. 116-117. Pocket Books. ISBN-10: 1-4165-0519-9. ISBN-13: 978-4798611372.
  3. Weta Workshop. (November 22, 2005) The World of Kong, pp. 116-117. Pocket Books. ISBN-10: 1-4165-0519-9. ISBN-13: 978-4798611372.

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