This undated photo released by the World Wildlife Fund shows a Bornean flat-headed frog, which has the rare characteristic of being an amphibian without lungs, and instead breathes entirely through its skin and is one of the recent discoveries in Borneo. A lung-less frog, a frog that flies and a slug that shoots love darts are among 123 new species discovered in Borneo since 2007, the result of a three-nation project backed by the WWF to conserve one of the oldest rainforests in the world. (AP Photo/World Wildlife Fund) This undated photo released by the World Wildlife Fund shows a Bornean flat-headed frog, which has the rare characteristic of being an amphibian without lungs, and instead breathes entirely through its skin and is one of the recent discoveries in Borneo. A lung-less frog, a frog that flies and a slug that shoots love darts are among 123 new species discovered in Borneo since 2007, the result of a three-nation project backed by the WWF to conserve one of the oldest rainforests in the world. (AP Photo/World Wildlife Fund)
Kuala Lumpur. A Malaysian researcher known for finding new amphibian species said on Friday that his team had discovered at least one new species of frog in studies he said highlight Borneo’s rich biodiversity.
Indraneil Das of the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak said the brown frog is just 4-5 centimeters (1.6-2.0 inches) long and makes a distinctive high-pitched chirp.
His team discovered the frog during an expedition to the rainforests of Mount Singai in the Malaysian state of Sarawak on Borneo island in September 2010. They later found another of the same species in nearby Kubah National Park.
Ascertaining whether a species is new is a lengthy scientific process and his discovery remains to be peer-reviewed, he said.
“We heard a call we hadn’t heard before. It called from under the leaf litter. That’s probably why no one saw it before,” Das told Agence France-Presse.
“It’s the call that is very distinctive. It was high-pitched, loud and repeated.”
Das said his team had also found several other species of frog that could be previously unknown and was currently investigating them.
He now hopes to publish his findings to draw attention to Borneo’s amazing biodiversity and help promote conservation efforts of its rainforests, currently threatened by logging and other development.
Last year, Das made headlines for rediscovering a spindly-legged toad species, the Sambas Stream Toad or Borneo Rainbow Toad, almost 90 years after it was last sighted in the Borneo jungle.
The toad was listed as one of the “World’s Top 10 Most Wanted Lost Frogs” in a campaign by Conservation International and another group to encourage scientists worldwide to seek out amphibians not seen for a decade or more.
Das has also previously discovered Asia’s tiniest frog, the size of a pea, in Kubah National Park.
The Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah occupy the northern portion of Borneo island, which is also shared with Indonesia and Brunei.
Agence France-Presse
Two new frog species discovered
Winston Way New Straits Times 19 May 12;
ONLY IN BORNEO: Mount Singai expedition also found 30 species of amphibians, 19 species of reptiles
KUCHING: TWO frog species from the Genus Leptobrachella, believed to be new to science, were discovered around Mount Singai, 30km from here.
"The species found during the September and December 2010 expeditions to Mount Singai are being studied by Prof Dr Indranil Das," said Prof Dr Andrew Alek Tuen from the Faculty of Resource Science and Technology at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.
Indranil, a renowned expert on frogs, had in 2009 discovered microhyla nepenthicola -- the world's smallest frog -- in Sarawak.
Last year, Indranil discovered the Bornean rainbow toad, previously thought to be extinct for 87 years.
Andrew, who led the expeditions, said this after giving a talk on the conservation of Mount Singai here on Wednesday night.
He said apart from the two species, the expeditions also found at least 30 species of amphibians and 19 species of reptiles, including 14 that were endemic to Borneo, as well as more than 200 species of vegetation.
The slopes of the 305m-high Mount Singai used to be the settlement area for the Singai Bidayuh, who now live in 12 villages around it.
Andrew also spoke about the locals' concern that the surrounding area of the High Conservation Value Forest might face environmental threats in the future.
"The area around Mount Singai was gazetted as state land. There is no law to protect it from being developed commercially such as for tourism.
"Anyone with the financial means can get permission from the state to develop it."
The mountain, he added, was also too small to have its status changed to a national park.
"The only thing the local people can do at the moment is to stop any development there to conserve the area."
Many endangered animals in Borneo are threatened by hunting and habitat loss sparked by logging, plantations and development.