- Bufonidae.
Ansonia hanitschi
Ansonia leptopus
These were mostly males calling from several metres from a riverbank, with a high pitched rolling call. I think some of the ones from Tawau Hills park have been missidentified, perhaps Ansonia longidigita.
Ansonia longidigita
Ansonia minuta
A tiny toad, usually seen sitting on low vegetation. In terms of colouration, they are almost identical to the Pelophryne sp. (below), but they have a very different shape, whith long thing legs, and a long snout.
Ansonia spinulifer
Ansonia sp. (krayan)
This is probably an unnamed species. They look quite like A. longidigita, althogh they were much smaller (calling males were between 3.2 and 3.5cm) with a red-bronze iris. The males were almost always found calling above small waterfalls in streams perhaps 2m wide.
Duttaphrynus melanostictus
These stocky toads are pretty much everywhere in Asia, thriving around people. They are apparantly not native to Borneo, but their close affiliaton with people makes introductions inevitable.
Ingerophrynus divergens
These were found in almost all lowland forests. The ones from Tarakan look different, this may be due to a life outside the forest, or they could be another similar species such as I. biporcatus, (common in Java and Bali.)
Ingerophrynus quadriporcatus
I only found one individual of this species, the adults are usually less red in colour.
Pedostibes hosii
A spectacular toad, which is a very adept climber, occasionally seen sitting high above rivers and streams.
Pelophryne api
Tiny little toad, seen calling on leaves around limestone outcrops.
Pelophryne misera
These were seen in the high-montane forests, especially where there was lots of moss.
Pelophryne signata
Pelophryne sp.
Phrynoidis aspera
River toad.
Phrynoidis juxtaspera
A spectacular, very large, river toad
Bufonidae sp
This juvenile was found sitting on a leaf. Something so tiny is difficult to identify, It may well be Ingerophrynus divergens.
- Ceratobatrachidae
Ingerana baluensis
A pretty odd species, in a family all of it's own.
- Dicroglossidae
Fejervarya cancrivora
Crab-eating frog. A large, widespread species. Some of these photos may be of Hoplobatrachus rugulosus; I dont know the difference.
Fejervarya limnocharis
Grass Frog. Another species which thrives around people, I've never seen this species away from human disturbance. A couple of the photos from Similajau national park, Sarawak, might be of other species.
Limnonectes finchi
Rough guardian frog. These are quite common in Sabah. I have been lucky enough to see a couple of males carrying their tadpoles.
Limnonectes ibanorum
Limnonectes ingeri
Limnonectes kuhlii
A very widely distributed species across a range of habitats.
Limnonectes cf kuhlii
These ones from around Mt Kinabalu HQ may be distinct from the lowland ones, in their ability to call, and larger size.
Limnonectes laticeps
A small species, similar to L. kuhlii, but live in a different habitat, and do not have fully webbed feet.
Limnonectes cf. laticeps
These individuals were seen around Gunung Gading natioanl park. They look similar to both L. laticeps and L. kuhlii, but are too large to be laticeps (these ones were up to 7cm), and do not have fully webbed feet (kuhlii have fully webbed feet). These were found in clear small streams and rivers, with granite grit and boulders. L. laticeps were seen nearby, in small, seep/stream with almost still puddles and accumilated leaf litter.
Limnonectes leporinus
These are commonly seen in lowland forest, although they seem a lot less common outside protected areas (people eat them).
Limnonectes malesianus
Limnonectes palavanensis
Smooth guardian frog.
Limnonectes paramacrodon
Limnonectes spp.
At first I really struggled with identifying Limnonectes. Most of these are older photos, which are not clear enough to identify. Most of them are probably laticeps/kuhlii, or L. paramacrodon. The two dark individuals may be the poorly known Limnonectes kenepaiensis.
Occidozyga baluensis
These were commonly seen in puddles along trails.
Occidozyga laevis
Some of these photos might be O. baluensis.
- Megophryidae.
Leptobrachella sp
I didn't see any of these in my first trip to Kubah national park. Revisiting again, they were everywhere. Once I was familiar with the call, I found them in allsorts of habitats, from medium sized rivers, to a tiny stream flowing inside a ditch near to the gunung Serapi summit (above 750m). A really tiny frog with a really load call! They are probably either Leptobrachella parva or L. mjobergi, I don't yet know the difference.
Leptobrachium abbotti
These were common in lowland forests. The ones in Sabah often had bold black markings underneith, but sometimes these were just light grey or absent.
Leptobrachium gunungense
I think all of these are L. gunungense, one was heard calling with multiple notes, and the others were seen at about 1800m+ altitude (outside the range of the similar L. montanum)
Leptobrachium montanum
I probably saw many of these, but they are difficult to differentiate from L. gunungense. These individuals were calling with a single note. I did not directly see any of them calling though, so cant be sure!
Leptobrachium nigrops
These are quite small and slender compared with the other Leptobrachium in borneo, at a gla nce the males could be confused with Leptolalax. One pair was seen in amplexus, although I thought the female was a L. abbotti.
Montane Leptobrachium sp.
L. gunungense and L. montanum are pretty much indistinguishable. They differ in attitudinal range and call, the area I walked is within both species ranges, and I could hear both species calling in the area.
Leptolalax arayai
Leptolalax dringi
Leptolalax gracilis
These were common in Sarawak. They seem larger than L. dringi, and can commonly be heard calling quite loudly from areas of rotten twigs and leaf-litter.
Leptolalax hamidi
Leptolalax maurus
This individual was seen in the cool montane forests of Mt Kinabalu national park, the only place it is known.
Leptolalax sp
At first I thought these were L. pictus, because the individuals I saw were light with clear black spots, and had rough skin with almost ridges instead of warts. However, upon returning to kinabalu park for the last few days of my holiday, I saw many which looked much more like L. dringi, and many in between.
Leptolalax sp (Krayan)
I found this individual sitting on a leaf near a stream, in submontane forest.
Megophrys kobayashii
Megophrys nasuta
Xenophrys baluensis
- Microhylidae.
Chaperina fusca
All of the individuals from Tawau were found when carefully trying to follow a call of a different species, suggesting this species is common, yet rarely seen.
Kalophrynus baluensis
Kalophrynus heterochirus
Kalophrynus intermedius
Kalophrynus pleurostigma
Kaloula baleata
Metaphrynella sundana
Microhyla borneensis
Microhyla nepenthicola
Microhyla spp.
Microhyla sp (mulu)
- Ranidae.
Huia cavitympanum
Hylarana baramica
Hylarana erythreae
Hylarana glandulosa
Hylarana lactuosa
Hylarana megalonesa
This species is very similar to H. raniceps, but is larger, and lives by streams and rivers.
Hylarana nicobariensis
Hylarana picturata
These are widespread frogs, usually seen sitting on the banks of small streams. The ones from the Krayan area, north Kalimantan Timur, were consistantly smaller (males maybe 3 – 3.5cm, females ~5.5cm and many idividuals, especially males, were very yellow, more marbled than spotted. These seem to be at least a distinct population.
Hylarana raniceps
These are an extremely common species in lowland forests. Some of these might be Hylarana megalonesa, a recently described, larger species, which is difficult to distinguish.
Hylarana signata
Meristogenys amoropalamus
Meristogenys kinabaluensis
Meristogenys sp.
Meristogenys are very difficult genus to identify. Among these photos are probably Meristogenys jerboa, Meristogenys orphnocnemis, Meristogenys phaeomerus, Meristogenys poecilus, Meristogenys whiteheadi, and maybe others (please ignore any exisiting names on the photos, i know at least some are incorrect).
Odorrana hosii
Staurois guttatus
These were common in lowland forests, around streams and rivers. During the night they tend to sit high on leaves, occasionally calling, whereas during the day they are active, occationally seen flashing their metallic blue feet.
Staurois latopalmatus
An awesome frog, seen sitting on boulders in strong rapids and waterfals.
Staurois tuberilinguis
- Rhacophoridae.
Nyctixalus pictus
A beautiful little species, which is difficult to photograph to get it's true colour. In many photographs, the bright orange bleeds, while the white spots are bleached. There was one individual from Mt. Kinabalu which looked quite different, lacking the scattered white spots. This individual shows striking simularity to the montane Phillapino species, Nyctixalus spinosus.
Philautis amoenus
Philautus gunungensis
Philautus hosii
This species is large for a Philautus, males around 4cm, and females up to about 6cm. They were quite abundant for a few nights. Most of the time these were found in pairs, the male calling with a repeated, soft tone, occasionally preceeded by a rapid succession of short notes. These were usually found near flowing water, from the tiniest seeps to large rivers. It has been suggested that they have free-living tadpoles. I believe, however, that they do not use the flowing water to breed, but the most, muddy banks found at all these habitats. One male was found with mud on its head, while calling to a female. In 2005, a new species was described, Polypedates chlorophthalmus, with a very similar appearance to these individuals.
Philautus mjobergi
A little frog. These photos are from between 1500m and 1700m. These were heard more than seen, calling from low vegetation, with a series of about 8 chirps, sometimes a pause before the last one or two notes.
Philautus refugii
These frogs were found in small patches, perhaps breeding congregations, in Kubah national park. A (low quality) recording of the call is available. They seem variable in colour and skin texture.
Philautus tectus
These were seen in almost all lowland forests. The ones in Mulu national park were in a calling group, and seemed smaller than the ones seen elsewhere.
Philautus sp.(mulu)
I found this pair of individuals around the area of a fallen tree, in Gunung Mulu national park. I first found the calling male, then the other, presumably a female, approached from several metres away. Notice the huge difference between the male and the female. If found alone I would be convinced that they were different species. Philautus are a very difficult genus to identify!
Philautus sp. (Krayan)
This is the only individual which I got a photo, of this tiny species. This looks similar to “Philautus mjoberi” I saw in Kinabalu, but the call was quite different; single chirps composed of two or 3 notes in rapid succession.
Polypedates colletti
Polypedates leucomystax
A very adaptable species which trives around people. I saw few in the forest, and this was on the boundary between dipterocarp forest and magrove. These can be striped, plain or spotted.
Polypedates macrotis
This species also shows polymorphism, with some individuals being spotted, some with two stripes, or some without any markings (except the dark stripe running from behind the eye.
Polypedates otilophis
A very large treefrog, with sharp ridges above the eardrums, presumably a defence against predators such as snakes.
Rhacophorus angulirostris
Rhacophorus appendicculatus
Rhacophorus cyanopunctatus
Rhacophorus dulitensis
I only saw one individual of this spectacular species, which appeared to have a diseased eye.
Rhacophorus everetti
Rhacophorus cf gadingensis
These individuals were seen in Kubah national park. They are much larger than the described R. gadingensis, and have white tubercles along the forearm and underneith the thigh. These features were some that distinguished the between R. gadingensis and the newly named R. belalongensis (Dehling and Grafe, 2008). Hopefully work is underway to sort out this species complex.
Rhacophorus guani
Rhacophorus harrissoni
These males were all about 4cm SVL, quite a bit smaller than R. harrissoni is often described (>50mm, Haas 2010). Theyre also desribed as “rather unspectacular”; for these individuals at least, I think they're pretty spectacular!
Rhacophorus kajau
These little gems are tiny, with eyes that seem far too big for their head. Theyre often seen sitting above very small streams.
Rhacophorus nigropalmatus
It took me over 2 months of searching to find this iconic species. It was certainly worth waiting for!
Rhacophorus pardalis
Rhacophorus rufipes
These two males were found perching on twigs of a fallen tree.
Resources:
Frost, Darrel R. 2010. Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 5.4 (8 April, 2010). Electronic Database accessible at http://research.amnh.org/vz/herpetology/amphibia/ American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA.
Inger R F & Stuebing, 2005. A field guide to the frogs of borneo, 2nd Edition.
Hass et al, www.frogsofborneo.org