Ansonia spinulifer, also known as spiny slender toad or Kina Balu stream toad, is a species of true toad in the family Bufonidae.It is found in Sarawak and Sabah, northern Borneo (Malaysia), and presumably also in Kalimantan on the Indonesian part of the island.[1]
Ansonia spinulifer males measure 30mm40mm and females up to 45mm in snout–vent length. Tympanum is visible.[2] Dorsum has big spinose warts and usually a light spot between the shoulders. The warts are large and have keratinized projections, hence the species name. Tadpoles have the typical sucker mouth of rheophilous Ansonia tadpoles.[3]
Its natural habitats are lowland rainforests at elevations of 150m-750mm (490feet-2,460feetm) asl. Adults range widely over the floor and herb stratum in areas of steep terrain, but breeding requires small, clear, rocky-bottomed streams. Males call at night, sitting in low vegetation close to streams.[3] The tadpoles live in torrents; they cling to rocks and feed on lithophytes.
Ansonia spinulifer is common in Sarawak,[3] but it seems not to adapt to habitat modification. It is threatened by habitat loss (deforestation and the associated siltation of streams; plantations).