Collett's Whipping Frog

Fascinating facts about the Collett's Whipping Frog

• A male Collett's Whipping Frog can be 52 mm long, while females reach 80 mm.
• During breeding they form aggregations around temporary rain pools.
• Their tadpoles are 33 mm total length and have a marbled pattern on head, trunk, and tail.
• They live up to 600 m elevation in lowland marshy evergreen rainforest, including mildly disturbed, selectively logged forest, and are found in protected areas.

At a glance

About the Collett's Whipping Frog

Collett's whipping frog, Polypedates colletti, is a striking member of the Rhacophoridae family that prowls the lowland marshy evergreen rainforests of the Malay Peninsula, southern Vietnam, Borneo, Sumatra, and the South China Sea islands such as the Natuna group. Males grow to about 52 mm and females to 80 mm in snout-vent length, with an unmistakably acute snout and a distinct tympanum. Their dorsum is typically brownish or grayish, often adorned with an hour-glass pattern, while the belly is a pale whitish-cream and the throat may bear dark vermiculations; dark cross-bars streak the limbs, adding a subtle camouflage against bark and leaf litter. The tadpoles, reaching 33 mm, display a marbled pattern across head, trunk, and tail. When the monsoon swells the forest floor with transient pools, these frogs gather in noisy aggregations, each adult perching 1–2 m above the water to call and await mates, showcasing a finely tuned adaptation to a niche that balances the forest canopy and the fleeting aquatic world, letting them thrive in both mildly disturbed, selectively logged forest and pristine rainforest up to 600 m elevation.

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