Species of toad last seen in 1924 discovered in Borneo

SCIENTISTS scouring the mountains of Borneo spotted a species of toad last seen by European explorers in 1924, providing the world with the first photographs of the colourful, spindly legged creature.

In recent years, the Washington-based Conservation International placed the Sambas Stream Toad, also known as the Bornean Rainbow Toad, on a list of the world’s “Top 10 Most Wanted Lost Frogs” and voiced fears that it might be extinct.

Researchers found three of the slender-limbed toads living on trees during a night search last month in a remote mountainous region of Malaysia’s eastern Sarawak state in Borneo, said Indraneil Das, a conservation professor at the Sarawak Malaysia University who led the expedition. Only illustrations of the toads previously existed.