When I saw one of these hopping across the trail on my first night in Malaysia, I immediately realized that I didn't know what it was, and also that I had quite definitely not seen one before.

My Travelogues and Trip Lists page includes a complete list of the herps I saw in the wild on this trip to Malaysia, as well as a travelogue of the trip.

These frogs breed in water-filled tree holes My guide Kurt "Orion" G led me straight to this one, which was hanging out by one of these holes.

I wonder what is the evolutionary advantage of this color and pattern in the rainforest. The frogs draw my attention, which certainly doesn't help them, but perhaps to the eyes of their predators these frogs blend in somehow. Many brightly-colored frogs are toxic to predators, but I haven't found any mention of toxicity for these frogs.

On my return visit to Malaysia the following year, I was familiar enough with the local frog fauna to know what this was at first glance.

A Field Guide to the Frogs of Borneo tells me that this species is widespread across Borneo. In my limited experience it doesn't seem to be particularly abundant anywhere though; I saw two at the same tree hole last year, but otherwise I've never seen more than one in any evening.