Pea-sized frog has unique qualities

Dr Indraneil Das of the Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation at the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak said the sub-species had originally been mis-identified in museums.

Scientists presumably thought they were juveniles of other species,but it turns out they are adults of this newly-discovered micro species, he said. Das published the paper with Alexander Haas of the Biozentrum Grindel und Zoologisches Museum of Hamburg,Germany.

The mini frogs were found on the edge of a road leading to the summit of the Gunung Serapi mountain in the Kubah National Park in the Malaysian state of Sarawak.

The team found the frog when it emerged from a small pitcher plant,Nepenthes ampullaria,in which it lives. The plant lives off decomposing organic matter that collects in its deep pitcher-shaped cavity. The little frog uses this as a habitat. It lays its eggs there and when the tadpoles hatch,they live in the gathered organic goo until they mature,the BBC reported.

Apart from its size,the amphibian has some unique features that set it apart from other species. The scientists believe that its miniaturisation and reduced webbing may be the result of it having to navigate the slippery zone of the pitcher plants on which it depends.

The scientists said they tracked the frogs by their call,a series of harsh rasping notes that started at sundown. They then made the frogs jump onto a piece of white cloth to study them.

The find was part of a global search being undertaken by Conservation International and International Union for Conservation of Natures Amphibian Specialist Group to rediscover 100 species of lost amphibians.

For biologists,this is a curiosity. This just shows how much more there is left to discover in the jungles of Borneo. Its just the tip of the iceberg, said Dr Das.