Day 275#: Sambas Stream Toad
Today’s animal of the day is the Sambas Stream Toad (Ansonia latidisca)!
Photo credit: Dr. Indraneil Das
Also known as the Bornean rainbow toad, this tiny species of colorful toad is found only in the tropical lowland forests of Borneo. These nocturnal toads usually grow between 1.2 and 2 inches long and have long, spindly limbs. Their bumpy green skin helps them to blend in with their mossy environment, while their bright red and purple markings likely serve as a warning to predators not to eat them because they are poisonous.
Photo credit: Lars Fehlandt
Sadly, not much is known about these toads since they’ve only been sighted a handful of times. They were first discovered in 1924, and after that, they weren’t seen for nearly 87 years! All we even had of this species was a black and white sketch based on some specimens collected by German botanist Johann Gottfried Hallier. Conservation International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting biodiversity around the world, put the Sambas stream toad on their list of the world’s top 10 most wanted frogs during their 2010 global search for lost amphibians. However, it wouldn’t be until the summer of 2011 when a team of scientists from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, led by Dr. Indraneil Das, finally rediscovered the rainbow toad. They found three individuals: an adult male, an adult female, and a juvenile, all of whom were photographed.
Photo credit: Dolce Amore
Because so little was known about this species, the team used tactics for locating closely related species, such as looking at mossy trees that grow alongside streams at night, in order to locate the rainbow toads. This was just one of many searches that the team had done over the course of several months, and during their search, they had to deal with heavy rainfall, blood-sucking leeches, and poachers. Speaking of poachers, in order to protect the Bornean rainbow toads from falling victim to poachers, the scientists have decided to keep the exact location of the toads a secret, but they did reveal that it was somewhere in the western region of Sarawak, which is the largest state in Malaysia. Sadly, in addition to poachers, the rainbow toad is still at risk of extinction due to habitat loss caused by human development. Sadly, the only other species of frog on Conservation International’s list to be rediscovered is the Rio Pescado stubfoot toad, and the eight other species are still considered to be lost or even extinct.
