Sunday, March 10, 2013

Unidentified Frogs

Amphibians are such wonderful little creatures. The order Anura (Frogs and Toads) are the animals first come to mind when mentioning about this class. Occasionally, I bumped into a few species of them during my trip to other parts of Borneo. Most species have already been studied leaving behind only a few percentage of them undescribed. However, even though I am equipped with local frogs identification guide book and good Internet access into online resources, I could not identify some of the frogs and toads I have photographed. They could be unrecorded species or just that I am not good enough in identifying what I have found.


A tiny frog as small as a thumb nail that I caught beside the Maliau River in MBSC - Maliau Basin Study Center. This frog has colors and patterns to make it look like the stone and pebbles on the river banks. It might still have not fully matured yet. More pictures of this frog here
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/17074313



Another small jumper I caught from the same area. This one looks like a toad, a small toad. It is larger and might possibly be the fully-grown adult of the frog I caught before this. More photographs here http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/17167207




This medium-sized frog is quite common at night in Aristo inn, near Kundasang. They are yellowish brown in color and can be approached closely. More information about this frog here
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/14841110 Special thanks to Prof. Dr. Alexander Haas for identifying this frog as a common Polypedates macrotis.


Any ID suggestion given is greatly appreciated.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Project Noah Rangers

I have been working voluntary as a Noah Ranger for the website Project Noah since October, 2011.
We rangers are just like park rangers except that we work in a "digital park".
As a Noah Ranger, I regularly monitor the site activity.
Not only are we given the special ranger badge, we are also given some "super powers"
We can edit and delete spottings when necessary.


These are part of our rangers' work-
> Welcome new users.
> Help users - Answer their questions and refer them to the FAQ.
> Remind users of the website rules and expectations.
> Encourage users to participate and remain active.
> Make sure all the information on each spottings are accurate.
> Flag and Delete content that violates our community policies
> Identify spottings that are not suitable.
> Flag and Delete spottings which have inappropriate photographs - stolen, graphic, prank, offensive, non-wildlife, extremely poor photographs and pictures that are not photographs at all.
> Remove improperly submitted spottings from missions.
> Remove improper comments and suggestions.
> Coordinate with other Rangers to monitor or contact suspect users.
> Warn problematic members.
> Help with species ID.
> Remind members to update their spottings.
> Suggest mission to users.
> Explore the new option the site has to offer.
> Report problems and bugs in the website.
> Give suggestion to improve the website.
> Be active on the chats.

Currently, we have around 80 rangers although several of them have become inactive.
Rangers are "elected" around the globe, from different background and age groups.
For more information on Noah Rangers, please read this post http://blog.projectnoah.org/post/42673866587/meet-the-rangers-the-real-heroes-behind-project-noah


Join Project Noah now and see whether you've got what it takes to be a Noah Ranger !
Happy Chinese New Year to all and have a shark fin-free celebration.