Brown Slender Toad

(Ansonia leptopus) (Gunther)

Description: A slender-bodied species with long, thin hind legs. The toes are about three-fourths webbed in males, slightly less than that in females. The fingers have rounded tips like those of the toes. The entire back, sides, and upper surfaces of the limbs are rough, with many small, rounded warts. The top of the head usually has low ridges. Males have a single row of small orange or brown spines under the chin. This toad is uniformly brown on the back and top of the head, and slightly darker on the sides. The underside of the head is dark gray with a brownish tinge, and the chest and belly are gray with darker mottling.

Males: 30-40 mm.

Females: 45-65 mm.

Tadpoles: The tadpoles are small (not more than 10 mm long) and light-bodied, with a black cross on the upper surface.

Habits and habitat: This is a toad of hilly primary forest or old secondary growth below 600 metres above sea level. Adults move to clear, medium-sized streams for breeding. Males usually call in groups from stream banks or from rocky bars in mid-stream. Tadpoles live mainly in accumulations of dead leaves in medium-sized clear streams often in association with tadpoles of Rana signata, Rana leporina,and Pedostibes hosii.

Call: A high pitched trill.

Distribution: Widely distributed in Borneo in hilly, but not mountainous country. Also known from Peninsular Malaysia.