July 14th, 2011
10:18 AM ET
Lost rainbow toad reappears after 87 years
You've never seen a toad like this before.
This otherworldly beauty, called the Sambas Stream Toad, or Bornean Rainbow Toad, was rediscovered in Borneo, Malaysia after 87 years without reported human detection. Scientists from the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak recently found three such toads.
These are some of the first photos ever taken of the rainbow toad. Before now, no one has reported spotting it since 1924!
Dr. Indraneil Das and his team found an adult female, an adult male, and a juvenile rainbow toad. And they're tiny: the youngest one is a mere 30 mm (1.18 inches).
Learn more about Conservation International’s Global Search for Lost Amphibians, which inspired the search for this precious toad.
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Rainbow frog legs... yum...
.......personally i'm glad the little frog made it and i'm with JMAY on renaming it 'HYNOTOAD'.........
.....that should have been 'HYPNOTOAD'...........oops!!!!.
Maybe we will be lucky to see the yangtze river dolphin in 87 years . . . If we are still here that is
RAINBOW TOAD HELPER – $1 It must be a gay.
Oh,Baxter. You're alive. It's really you.MWA MWA. Oh,I missed you so much. I'll never let that bad man punt you again. MWA MWA MWA. Oh,Baxter,I love you so much. MWA MWA MWA Slurp. Slurp. Lick. Lick.
That's one old toad.
Is this toad poisonous? Brightly colored species often are.
Who cares about a frog, way to go CNN reporting on a frog when people are more important. I bet there is oil under that frog and we should kill it and all like it who stand in our way.
No! We should tax the rich to pay for food and shelter for this toad! It obviously can't survive on its own, so the burden falls on the wealthy to pick up the slack.
What did you do, log on to CNN, and found this story just so you can make a negative remark? You need a hobby.
Liberal Response: People don't matter at all – we need to protect this toad, no matter how many people lose their jobs, starve, or die.
Seems as though conservatives (and no small number of liberals, for that matter) forget their existence relies upon our environment remaining healthy. So just like the proverbial canary in the coal mine, there's also the frog in the forest (or toad, as in this case) that tells us our world is deteriorating or degraded. Or not (and so reassure us). If we don't keep an eye on these small 'inconsequential' creatures, then we'll first learn our existence is threatened when our child becomes sick, our food supply fails, or we can find no water that's drinkable. To say nothing of the air we breathe. I realize many conservatives (especially) regard life as a necessary ordeal before being accepted to heaven, but to many not so entranced by the siren song of belief, this attitude seems like a sort of prisoner's psychosis and a recipe for extinction. Thanks for considering this point of view.
Stop using over using parenthesis (you look like an idiot).
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVE60zwXx1k&w=425&h=349%5D
Just goes to prove that Mother Nature is a tough ol' bat!!! We may kill ourselves off, but Old Mom Nature will just go on without us. It's a shame some of the commentors have to find someone to hate and something to spew bile about, even in the face of a rare bit of good news! This is really cool.
Good point, Albro. Nature is tougher and more resilient than a lot of people seem to think nowadays.
That's great. We won't have to stop polluting the environment after all.
Was this frog at Woodstock? I told you to get off the towers and lay off the brown acid...
Will it blend?
maybe dinosaurs will be spotted again too
Right after the second coming of Christ... keep holding your breath.
I love the assumption that scientists are mother-nature r4ping @ssholes. The reason we haven't seen one in so long is probably because of deforestation or something of the like. Forgive me if I don't think the scientists are the problem.
Bunch of tree huggin hippies and egocentric windbags on here...ALL HAIL HYPNOTOAD.
And so then your just a tree hatin hippie and a modest windbag, is that right?
Wow...it's almost like you've known me for years. You have me figured out, get out of my head. Seriously, you're giving me goose bumps.
Haha! Yeah. What kind of a douche makes a point to read and article he doesn't like, read the comments, and then make a stupic remark like that? Normal people with a modicum of sense and actual lives couldn't be bothered if they disagree or aren't interested.
He wasn't lost...he was on a road trip up in Canada:)
I hope that species doesn't go away; it looks amazing.
ps. I love how everyone preaches some solution to make the world a better place; yet, we even get people arguing on a toad discovery article. World peace attainable W/OUT controlling/regulating human brain activity? <- (good luck to us on that)
World Peace...good luck with that. It goes against basic laws of biology. And unless we somehow find a way to play god and genetically engineer humans to be able to pass knowledge down to our offspring from birth (which is most likely improbable), then there will always be conflict and a difference of opinion with every generation. For example...there will always be the liars, the cheats, the thiefs, the destroyers, the haters, the murders, etc...simply because the genetics for personality are continually passed on to each generation. And no amount of time teaching someone that after birth with eliminate all those who just don't have the capacity or the desire to care about people and our planet. Genetic Engineering and population control...our ONLY hope!
...Seriously!
Makes me wonder if they are going to remove this species from the "disappeared species" list that the ecofrauds use to convince everyone that the world is going to end. Something tells me that the people who maintain that list are no accustomed to removing things from that list. They probably just spend their days finding every way they can to add things...
I've heard of MadCow...but not MadJerry. Either way, they obviously produce the same results. And thank you for spending your time wasting a scientific blog with your load of worthless garbage. Get back to your ipod apps and facebook account...because your really not qualified for much else!
...see the second part of my response to Smitty49.
And why do you assume from a simple forum post the following conclusion, "Get back to your ipod apps and facebook account...because your really not qualified for much else!" Really? You are going to judge one person's entire existence based on an inflammatory and snarky remark designed for humor? I took a look at your other responses and noticed a trend that you like to make ad hominem attacks for obvious humor and sarcasm. Why?
You are so correct... about 80% of the Mexican herpetofauna that has supposedly "disappeared" has either not been looked for or current observations are outright ignored. If Mexico is any indicator for the rest of the world, the list is about 5 fold over exaggerated!!!
Your right Chris...let's forget about the thousands of scientists out in the field and all the expansive data they collect and report on regarding population numbers. And their probably not good people anyway for wanting to help all those beasts out there in nature that are all conspiring to murder us, like JAWS. How do you do it Chris?...to know so much more than those that are actually participating in REAL studies almost every day of their lives, while your rotting in front of a computer looking at porn and updating your facebook profile.
grumpy and cynical much ?
Sometimes, but exceptionally so when I read science articles written by journalists. They have a habit of over simplifying things to the point of overstating the claims of the underlying science.
Three or four toads do not constitute a comeback nor does it disprove the damage we're doing to our infrastructure. Wing-nut responses like this are proof of denial. If you were half intelligent, you might make a case for an evolving ecosystem that is not in mortal danger.
Ohh I do make that case, quite often in fact, but that was not the topic of this article. It was about a species previously thought to be lost. I felt like being a little more cynical here, so I offered the observation that we are quite often reminded about how many species are disappearing but those same studies never mention how many species are found.
Funny too how when one makes a snarky forum post others are quick to rush to judgment on the assumption that such a remark represents the apex of one's intelligence.
NEWS FLASH: THE 3 TOADS WERE CAUGHT OFF GUARD BY THE BIOLOGIST BECAUSE THEY WERE DOING A LITTLE LILLY PLANKING!
This is toad-ally awesome! (couldn't resist). Wonder if some eggs that may have been buried in mud, were finally exposed from rain runoff and finally allow to complete their "hatching" cycle. KInda scary though that only 1 small frog was spotted. Usually when they lay eggs, a crap load of tadpoles make it through.
This webtise makes things hella easy.
I wonder what they taste like...
Terrible...like your SAT scores!
How utterly exquisite! I just hope the three didn't follow the route taken by so many other discoveries and end up in a nice vat of formaldehyde.
Clearly you have no idea how science works...
I've got an idea. Lets catch the only family of this species of toads known to man, capture them and make sure they do not reproduce! There MUST be a good reason why the disapeared in the first place. Lets make sure they don't make a come back! GEEZ!! Let nature be!!
Oh look. Another one who has no idea how science works.
That's one purdy toad. I'd like to suck it!
Again...the only excuse for your extremely dumb comment is your either under the age of 10, or you join the masses of morons that continue to hinder the progress of the human race.
Hey Bermuda "Gay Love" Triangle, go get layed.
All hail Hypnotoad.
Seriously, this toad looks like him. I hope the species thrives.
Hello, this is common sense speaking! And I say it dropped off for 80+ years for a reason, now leave it the eff alone! It's not rocket science here people!
Nature is much more resilient than people think.
Haha...sure, which is why over 90 percent of every species on earth is in decline! If nature was resilient, another epidemic of some deadly virus would have reduced our population numbers down by 30 percent or more already. Don't be so naive!
90%? Really? According to who? Enviro-nazis with a political agenda, maybe? I don't think I'm the one being naive here, Bermuda.
I hope those weren't the last three.
Well if they haven't been seen in 80 some years then your obviously talking about a very small population that's breeding in a very small area of the jungle. More research has to be done to ensure that their breeding pools (not sure if they lay their eggs in bromeliads or other plants that collect water) are protected and preserved. Hopefully some breeding in laboratories can be established to help repopulate.
Seriously, Research to protect nature? Why do we think we know more than God? Let nature doit's thing. It doesn't need us to protect it.
Bermuda, you are killing me with your word usage. You've obviously got a science background and we get it. But please take some time to learn the difference between your, you're, their, there and they're.
@ PoorTense, now I haven't read all of Bermuda's posts so I won't say you're wrong outright... however... in this post... he did use the word "their" correctly... I'll give you a point for "your" though.
I didn't know a toad could live 87 years
The individual toads didn't live that long, the species as a whole did.
I swear, some people need to think more and talk less.
A little tongue and cheek.....don't take it so seriously. Read the title again and maybe you will "get it",
I have an unfounded faith in humans, so I am going to go out on a limb and say he was joking.
Yeah! My faith is once again restored.
KlausVos must be German. As you might already know they don't have a sense of humor.
Har! You beat me to it. I was going to say that that is one old toad.
LOL
Haha...come on, really? Never take the title of a literal piece "literally". It simply means the toad species haven't been seen for 87 years...not one particular toad. Common sense people, please. And use it with every decision you make in life please!
How obvious does it have to be for a slow person like you to get it?
Again...it's a science article. Anyone who reads these know that they usually don't put "species" after the common name. Usually because these aren't jouralists with "science backgrounds". The title is SO OBVIOUS their talking about the species, if you have a quarter of a brain, that sarcasm simply has no place. No, the sarcasm wasn't obvious because you'd have to be a complete neanderthal to actually even consider the alternative as even funny or plausible.
Sarcasim: It's a sneaky little bugger.
Sarcasm has to be obvious...and funny! That was definitely neither!
LMAO!!! WOW!!!
Wow. There are so many rude people in the comments.
Nonetheless this is a great article.
Great. Now every one in America will want to buy one. Then get tired of it and toss into a stream. There it will decimate all the indigenous species. Then it will get put on the endangered species list.
Well somebody woke up crabby this morning!
Awww what nature can reveal.
An 89+ year old toad? From the headline you might think this particular toad disappeared and just came back.
hee hee!
His name is Bob The Rainbow Toad, he like long walks on the beach and eating fly sundaes with friends.
Thats right, I think he was hibernating in my old pair of sneakers. He's back and not happy. He is posting under the name BAILOUTSOS!!
I want one!
Absolutely stunning! Mother nature can be kind sometimes.
People are so stupid. This frog never disappeared, it's just that no 'biologist' could find one. Just because YOU don't see something doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
BigFoot!!!
Dear Miss Anthrope,
The author of the aritlce states that some of these toads have recently been seen by some scientists after "87 years without reported human detection", but does not state in this article that the toads "didn't exist."
Not all "people are so stupid." Not even all of those with questionable reading comprehension skills.
A little toad family!!!
Yep. No surprise: a plethora of stupid comments, as usual. This is an interesting article, nonetheless. Gives you hope for this poor beaten-up planet.
Agreed. Definitely a plethora of buffoonery.
-must be terrible to go through life without a sense of humour ;-\
It's not about having a sense of humor when discussing the inevitable loss of a diverse ecosytem due almost entirely to human modification of our environment. Just like it wouldn't be proper to drop jokes at a family member's funeral. There's always a place and time. And it also doesn't help that 99 percent of these jokes are simply terrible!
Bermuda, I guess you have never attended an Irish wake. I think very few here are trying to minimalize importance of the recent find. I myself have been involved with environmental issues for most of my life. As a nature photgrapher for 11 years and a transcriber of thousands of bird sightings for the North American Phenology Program database, I certainly am aware, but I find there is always a few that actually like to incite these exchanges (like the one we are having now). So what that a few spew a few jokes? As an adult I have learned to live and let live and ignore the silliness and persue dialogue that suits me ...... lighten up.
Gosh, I wish I would have had that inofrmitaon earlier!
Don't show this to Lady Gaga. She'll want a dress made out of these.
Photoshop!
Your mum is Photoshopped.
What a great fashion accessory! Can't wait for Paris Hilton to get one!
Everybody Loves Hypnotoad!
I bet they're tasty!!
They are great on salads or for a pizza topping!
Great. Meet the new symbol for the gay community. Just out of the closet after 87 years. Does this mean the hetero's can have rainbows back?
Fool.
LMAO!!!!!
How beautiful, AND SMART. It went undetected for 87 years. I hope they left them in their own environment.
Smart? They're tiny, well camouflaged, and live in an extremely remote area of the world. NOT SURPRISING, is more like it. There are still a ton of species out there that haven't ever been seen!
Leave the animals ALONE they probably stepped on 5 of them hiking through the forest to find the ones they did. In the words of carlin. "Let them go peacfully"
Ya save a tree, kill a baby..
All hail Hypnotoad! 8-|
The correct phrase is "ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD!"
I've been eating those for breakfast for years. What do you think they make Trix out of?
That is just wrong. Hilarious, made me laugh out loud, but so wrong....
This wbtesie makes things hella easy.
and skittles too
Taste the hallucinogenic rainbow.
Maybe. That hasn't been established but I like how it sounds.
LOL
i wouldn't eat one of them
I'd lick the trix-flavored trippy toad.
That is a beautiful toad!! The colors are amazing.. YOU GO GOD
If god gets credit for this toad can we blame him for the chihuahua?
You don't get how it works. The chihuahua is the product of the devil. God gets credit only for the good stuff. For the bad stuff.... well, that's what we have the devil for.
Funniest thing I have read on here in a long time!!!!!
What the hell is wrong with you? Animal hater? The chihuahua is a very sweet and beautiful creature. Probably smarter than you, too.
@doofus – good and bad can be subjective. In nature everything pretty much has a purpose. Some of those can be helpful or harmful to man. As far as right and wrong or good and evil man has the Will to decide and make choices. Sometimes we make the wrong choice and cause destruction.
@ Dog Lover,
Lighten Up... clearly, he doesn't hate Chihuahuas... It's God that does.
No wonder it was lost, that is some pretty amazing natural camouflage.
"how pretty... i bet it would taste good live or look pretty on my keychain"
Let me guess...your key chain has one key on it that unlocks your huffy bike frome the bike rack?
Great news but I wish the scientists would keep it quiet. Publicizing a rare animal find brings out wacko poachers and "collectors".
Unfortunately, all too true. The rarer an animal is the more desireable it is to a collector. The easiest way to condemn something rare is to let people know about it! I am involved in wildlife research myself and it is astounding how many people can find out about something that only a few people know about. Loose lips sink ships.
first!
F-f-f-f-fail.
If you're reading this, you're all set, prdaenr!
How beautiful. Welcome back to the world–now--RUUUUNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!
Run, is exactly what I was thinking. The reseachers probably collected them and then killed them for scienific purposes. I hope they just left them where they were. I love science but sometimes researchers get a little carried away.
@Brent Assume much?
Your assumption is correct – they can't make a name for themselves without putting it in a little glass jar to sit on a shelf and get dusty. Hell, I'm surprised there isn't a Navajo indian in a big bottle somewhere! Somewhere a long the line science and conservation seem to have diverged. Animals shouldn't be collected without knowing the extent of the population and once enough are collected for study that should be it. "I found a new species that got named after me and I helped make it extinct!"
Maybe they should just hop really fast!
BHAAG!!!!!!!!!!!
FIRST!
What is this, AOL circa 1990?
Well, bless your little heart...