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Family : BUFONIDAE
Species : Ansonia latidisca
Size (snout to vent) : up to 50 mm

Ansonia latidisca (Bornean Rainbow Toad, Sambas Stream Toad) is an elusive Bornean endemic which inhabits montane moist tropical forest.

Toads of the genus Ansonia are typified by slender, flattened bodies, spindly legs, minimal toe webbing, abundant tubercles and large eyes. 

Ansonia latidisca is mottled bright green, brown and purple-brown, with green bars on the front limbs. This probably provides effective camouflage in mossy habitats making the toad hard to find.

This toad was not seen by herpetologists for 87 years, until being rediscovered 2 metres up in trees in primary montane forest in western Sarawak in 2011 by Pui Yong Min and others from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Min et al, 2011).

Fig 1 : Example from Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo found in primary forest at night. Photo thanks to Sankar Ananthanarayanan.

Fig 2 : Hill and lower montane forest on a mountain peak, part of Gunung Penrissen (= Mount Penrissen) in the highlands region of western Sarawak..


References and links :

Min, P. Y., Jet, O. J., & Das, I. (2011). Rediscovery of one of the world’s top 10 most wanted ‘Lost Frogs’, Ansonia latidisca, the Bornean Rainbow Toad, on Gunung Penrissen, Western Sarawak, Borneo. FrogLog, 6.