Rainbow Toad Rediscovered after 87 Years

Conservation International researchers had re-discovered the Sambas stream toad (aka Borneo rainbow toad). It was last seen in the early 1920s, there was not much information about it. CI had placed the MIA toad on their list of top ten most-wanted frogs. Their researchers have been searching for the very rare amphibians to find out if they still exist in the wild. Very fortunately they met with success and found some in area of Western Sarawak on night searches at elevation. They wound up finding a total of three of the tiny creatures. So they now have found two of the ten most wanted frogs. A CI official said, “It is good to know that nature can surprise us when we are close to giving up hope, especially amidst our planet’s escalating extinction crisis.” (Source: CI)

It isn’t clear how stable the population is, but with such a small number found things don’t appear to be so promising. The site of the rediscovery has not been disclosed to prevent poachers from stealing the brightly colored toads to sell in the pet trade. The critically Endangered Rio Pescado stubfoot toad (Atelopus balios), of Ecuador is the other amphibian CI has found during their quest to find the ten lost species.

The remaining missing species are:

Golden toad (Incilius periglenes) Costa Rica – last seen in 1989
Gastric brooding frog (Rheobatrachus vitellinus and R. silus) Australia – last seen in 1985
Mesopotamia Beaked Toad (Rhinella rostrata) Colombia – last seen in 1914
Jackson’s climbing salamander (Bolitoglossa jacksoni) Guatemala – last seen in 1975
African Painted Frog (Callixalus pictus) Dem. Republic of Congo/Rwanda – last seen in 1950
Turkestanian salamander (Hynobius turkestanicus) Kyrgyzstan/Tajikistan/Uzbekistan – last seen in 1909
Scarlet frog (Atelopus sorianoi) Venezuela – last seen in 1990
Hula painted frog (Discoglossus nigriventer) Israel – last seen in 1955 Also, amphibians around the world are threatened by the chytrid fungus. A number of species have already been killed off by it.

Image Credit: Indraneil Das/Conservation International

Read more: Nature, Nature & Wildlife, Pets, Wildlife

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Diana P.

8:01AM PDT on Apr 26, 2012

thanks

send a green star

Anastasia J.

7:37PM PDT on Apr 24, 2012

Amazing looking critter.

John B.

6:50PM PDT on Apr 20, 2012

Beautiful toad, amazing.

Atocha B.

10:32AM PDT on Mar 31, 2012

Thanks for the list!

Dee D.

12:46PM PDT on Mar 30, 2012

That's one colorful toad! Thanks for the very good news.

Kenneth D.

11:04AM PDT on Mar 12, 2012

Good news. Proves we do not know it all and have a duty of care

New G.

10:42PM PST on Dec 28, 2011

Thank you. Hope more of the others are also rediscovered.

Kathy P.

10:04AM PST on Dec 26, 2011

so great! I hope they dont find the rest for awhile... let them live and multiply and let them BE... nature can cure itself if we get our noses out of the lives of it's creatures

Melinda offline K.

2:52AM PDT on Aug 24, 2011

Amazing toad! Special little fellow..

Asiatic L.

1:57AM PDT on Aug 15, 2011

wow...