Sulawesi Flying Frog

The Sulawesi flying frog is an endemic rhacophorid first described by George Albert Boulenger in 1896. Animals assigned to Rhacophorus cf. monticola in south-east Sulawesi were slender, with moderately webbed toes and conspicuously expanded discs on both fingers and toes, features consistent with life on vegetation. Males in that study measured 2.8–3.7 cm and females 3.6–4 cm (Boulenger 1896; Gillespie et al. 2004).

Researchers encountered adults, juveniles and tadpoles around forest streams and pools. Eggs were deposited on the surfaces of flat leaves overhanging pools, positioning the developing young above water. Tadpoles occurred in still sections of stream channels and connected side pools rather than in fast current. Because the field animals were reported with a cautious cf. identification, these observations describe the studied Sulawesi population without assuming that every historical specimen bearing the name is taxonomically identical (Gillespie et al. 2004).