Placeholder — replace: Wallace's flying frog on a wet leafWildlife of Danum · The gliding frog
Wallace's flying frog
Rhacophorus nigropalmatus
A big green tree frog with enormous webbed hands that parachutes between trees — the night walk's showpiece amphibian, named for the naturalist who first described it.
The amphibian
Field notes
Alfred Russel Wallace watched one glide in Borneo in the 1850s and the frog has carried his name since. Spread those oversized webbed hands and feet and a downward jump becomes a slow, angled parachute to the next trunk — not flight exactly, but a convincing impression of it.
You want a warm, wet night after rain, when they gather at breeding pools and the males call. Guides on the night walk know which streams deliver. Bright green, splay-footed, sitting fat on a leaf at eye level — a firm favourite with photographers and children both.
Where & when in Danum
Vegetation around forest pools and slow streams on the night walks; the wetter trails near both lodges after rain.
Best odds
Best on warm, damp nights, especially after rain when breeding activity peaks. Placeholder — confirm wettest months with the client.
Look for it on these
- Night safari — the damp-night walk
- River & waterholes — the water it breeds near
- Young Naturalists — 5D4N — a guaranteed crowd-pleaser for kids
Placeholder — replace: Wallace's flying frog on a leaf
Placeholder — replace: breeding-pool habitat
Placeholder — replace: warm wet night conditionsRelated
Keep planning
Plan your trip
Enquire directly
Tell us the species on your list and your dates — sightings are wild and never guaranteed, but we know where the odds live.