| Bornean Flat-headed Frog | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Family: | Bombinatoridae |
| Genus: | Barbourula |
| Species: | B. kalimantanensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Barbourula kalimantanensis Iskandar, 1978 |
|
| Bornean Flat-headed Frog range map | |
The Bornean Flat-headed Frog (Barbourula kalimantanensis) is a species of toad in the Bombinatoridae family. It is the second frog known to have no lungs.
The frog, no more than 70 mm (2.8 in) long, lives in cold, clear, and fast rivers in remote areas of the rainforests of Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its natural habitats are rivers in tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss from severe degradation of the river habitats by increased turbity and toxic metals used in mining and other unfortunate consequences of development on the island.
Djoko Iskandar, an Indonesian zoologist, first described the Bornean Flat-headed Frog.[1] However, he did not know the frog was lungless until Bickford et al. cut eight of the specimens open in the lab. The frog breathes entirely through its skin, and its internal organs (the stomach, spleen and the liver) take up the space which normally would be filled by the lungs. By retaining the lunglessness of their tadpole stage, the frogs are much flatter than typical frogs, which might help absorb oxygen and avoid being swept away in fast streams.[2]
