Borneo toad spotted for 1st time in 87 years



This photo, taken June 13, 2011 and released by
Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation,
shows an adult female Bornean Rainbow Toad.

Scientists scouring the mountains of Borneo spotted a species of toads 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.

The toads found on three separate trees measured up to 2 inches (5.1 centimetres) in size and comprised an adult male, an adult female and a juvenile.

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