New species of treefrog discovered on Langbian Plateau, Lam Dong Province, Vietnam

A new species of treefrog was discovered by scientists from Australia, Vietnam and the USA. Description of the new species was published in the Zootaxa (No. 2727) in December, 2010. Field surveys were conducted from 2008 to 2010 in the Bi Dup – Nui Ba National Park, Lac Duong District, Lam Dong Province, by a team of researchers from the Australian Museum, the University of Science (National University of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City) and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. The new species has an impressive name, Vampire Tree Frog Rhacophorus vampyrus Rowley, Le, Tran, Stuart & Hoang, 2010. It also has a special colour pattern: the dorsum is pale tan to brick red; the throat, chest, and belly are white; the flanks, the anterior and posterior parts of thight are black; the webbing between fingers and toes is grey to black. The new species has a snout-vent length from 39 to 53 mm, tips of fingers and toes with large disks, and a pointed skin projection at the tibiotarsal articulation.