''Philautus bunitus'' is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is ...

in the family

Rhacophoridae The Rhacophoridae are a family of frogs that occur in tropical sub-Saharan Africa, South India and Sri Lanka, Japan, northeastern India to eastern China and Taiwan, south through the Philippines and Greater Sundas, and Sulawesi. They are co ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

and inhabits subtropical or tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s and subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial ...

s and is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

Description

Relatively large sized adults (SVL of male: up to 41 mm; female up to 46 mm). Stocky in habit. Finger tips with rounded discs. Webbing in the base of fingers rudimentary. Supratympanic fold distinct. Hind feet with moderate webbing. Toe tips with dilated discs. Skin sparsely granular on dorsum. Small spinular projections on upper eyelids. Ventral side granular. Coloration variable. Generally green with black spots or stripes. Venter uniformly lemon yellow turning bright orange towards the vent. Iris brownish with black vermiculations. Inner and outer sides of thigh and tarsus bright orange.Inger, Robert F and Stuebing, Robert B. A field guide to the frogs of Borneo. 2005. Natural History Publications, Borneo, Malaysia

Distribution, natural history and ecology

It occurs in

Mount Kinabalu Mount Kinabalu ( ms, Gunung Kinabalu, Dusun: ''Gayo Ngaran or Nulu Nabalu'') is the highest mountain in Borneo and Malaysia. With an elevation of , it is third-highest peak of an island on Earth, and 20th most prominent mountain in the worl ...

in western

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory o ...

. It is restricted to elevations of 1000 to 1900 m amsl. It has the habit of being restricted to understorey vegetation.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q952312 Amphibians of Malaysia Endemic fauna of Malaysia bunitus Amphibians described in 1995 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot