Prior to this sighting, the toad was last spotted in 1924 |
A colourful, spindly-legged toad that was believed to be extinct has been rediscovered in the forests of Borneo.
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Scientists
from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) found three of the missing
long-legged Borneo rainbow toads up a tree during a night time search.
The team
had spent months scouring remote mountain forests for the species.
Prior to
these images, only illustrations of the toad had existed.
These were
drawn from specimens that were collected by European explorers in the 1920s.
Conservation
International, which launched its Global Search for Lost Amphibians in 2010,
had listed the toad as one of the "world's top 10 most wanted frogs".
Dr
Indraneil Das led a team that searched the ridges of the Gunung Penrissen range
of Western Sarawak, a boundary between Malaysia's Sarawak State and Indonesia's
Kalimantan Barat Province.
After
several months of night-long expeditions, one of Dr Das's graduate students
eventually spotted a small toad in the high branches of a tree.
Lost hope
"Thrilling
discoveries like this beautiful toad, and the critical importance of amphibians
to healthy ecosystems, are what fuel us to keep searching for lost species,"
said Dr Das.
Sketch of the Ansonia latidisca, previously the only image depicting what the mysterious toad looked like |
"They
remind us that nature still holds precious secrets that we are still
uncovering."
Dr Robin
Moore of Conservation International, who launched the Global Search for Lost
Amphibians, was delighted by the discovery.
He said:
"To see the first pictures of a species that has been lost for almost 90
years defies belief.
"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.
"Amphibians
are at the forefront of this tragedy, so I hope that these unique species serve
as flagships for conservation, inspiring pride and hope by Malaysians and
people everywhere."
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