Pea-Size Frog Found in Borneo

Tiny amphibian lives in carnivorous plants
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 26, 2010 4:08 AM CDT
Pea-Sized Frog Found in Borneo
Microhyla nepenthicola, a newly discovered species of frog, lives in the jungle on Borneo island in Malaysia.    (AP Photo/Indraneil Das)

The smallest frog ever discovered outside the Americas has been found dwelling inside a carnivorous plant in the jungles of Borneo. The tiny amphibians, just under half an inch long, were discovered by chance by researchers making their way up a mountain road. They tracked the pea-size frog by following its harsh, rasping call, the Christian Science Monitor reports.

The frogs live their entire lives in and around one of Borneo's many species of pitcher plants, which consume ants and other insects, but don't harm the frogs or their eggs. The researchers say specimens of the frogs can be found in several museums, but they were mistakenly thought to be juveniles of a different species instead of adults.
(More Borneo stories.)

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