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FIG. 1. Front (upper) and dorsolateral (lower) views of an adult Lim-
nonectes palavanensiswith ocular anomaly found at the Ulu Kimanis
Substation, Crocker Range National Park, Sabah, Malaysia.
forest from near sea level to 1502 m elev. (Kueh et al. 2011. Her-
petol. Rev. 42[2]:261). The species occurs on Palawan Island of
the Philippines , and throughout Borneo (Sabah and Sarawak
of Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam , and Kalimantan of Indonesia)
(Das 2007. A Pocket Guide: Amphibians and Reptiles of Brunei.
Natural History Publications [Borneo] Sdn. Bhd. Kota Kinabalu.
200 pp .; Inger 2007. Systematics and Zoogeography of Philippine
Amphibia. Natural History Publications [Borneo] Sdn. Bhd. Kota
Kinabalu. 370 pp.; Inger and Stuebing 2005. A Field Guide to the
Frogs of Borneo, 2nd ed. Natural History Publications [Borneo]
Sdn. Bhd. Kota Kinabalu. 201 pp.).
On 6 Oct 2012 at 2055 h during the Localized Nature Guide
Course organized by Borneo Tourism Institute (BTI), an adult
male L. palavanensis (29 mm SVL) was collected on the forest
floor among dead leaves at Crocker Trail (5.4047°N, 116.1104°E;
1049 m elev.), Ulu Kimanis Substation , Crocker Range National
Park, Papar District, West Coast Division, Sabah, Bornean Ma-
laysia. The anuran was void of a right eye, while the left eye was
present and normal (Fig. 1). Compared to typical L. palavanen-
sis, the anuran displayed lighter body hue, but was agile during
an indoor ex-situ photography session. The anomaly appeare d
not to affect the overall field of view and did not restrain its vi-
sual response and movement. In Dec 2010, Kueh et al. (2011.
Herpetol Rev. 42[3]:410) reported ocular anomaly in the micro-
hylid Chaperina fusca from highland West Coast, Sa bah. Further
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 497
studies are warranted to determine if such anomaly occurs in
other Bornean anuran families and species either with similar
or dissimilar effects, the frequency of occurrence of the anomaly
in different families and species, and geographical range of the
anomaly, to help understand the nature and pattern of ocular
anomaly in anurans.
Ocular anomaly in anurans can be caused by physical in-
juries and selective predation, infections and diseases (fungal
infection by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis [Bd]), exposure
to chemicals and UV radiation, mutation, and developmental
errors (Adams et al. 2008. Herpetol. Rev. 39:460-461; Silva and
Toledo 2010. Herpetol. Rev. 41:333-334; Streicher et al. 2010.
Herpetol. Rev. 41:208-209; Pirani and Moura 2012. Herpetol. Rev.
43:471). However, examination of the anuran showed no body
injuries. The anuran was found on a dry trail without any water
bodies in the vicinity to corroborate the causal factors of chemi-
cal pollution and Bd infection .
The anuran was released after photographs and measure-
ments were taken, in accordance to the requirement of the man-
agement of Crocker Range National Park under the Sabah Parks.
Photographic vouchers are available from the first author. To our
knowledge, this is the first observation of ocular anomaly in L.
palavanensis.
We are grateful to Borneo Tourism Institute (BTI), Sabah
Parks, and the Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation ,
Universiti Malaysia Sa bah for support.
KUEH BOON-HEE, Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation,
Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, 88400 Kota Kinabalu , Sabah, Malay-
sia (e-mail: kbhkelvin@hotmail.com); CHONG KAR WEI (JASON) (e-mail:
Jason52013141018 @gmail.com), JANICE HIEW MAY LIN, MOHD , NAZEF
BIN ABDUL MAJID , and DANNY CHEW TEE WAH (e-mail: borneotouris-
minstitute@gmail.com), Borneo Tourism Institute , 7th Floor, Block B, Wisma
Kosan, Likas, KM7 Jalan Tuaran , 88856 Kota Kinabalu, Sa bah, Malaysia.
LITHOBATES SYLVATICUS (Wood Frog). EGG PREDATOR EN-
TRAPMENT. On 9 March 2012 while surveying ridge -top wet-
lands in Daniel Boone National Forest (DBNF), Rowan Co., Ken-
tucky, USA, we observed a Lithobates clamitans larva that had
become entrapped within an L. sylvaticus egg mass. This repre-
sents the second observation of an amphibian species entrapped
in an egg mass that has occurred in this portion of DBNF (Rich-
ter 2012. Herpetol. Rev. 43:459). The L. clamitans larva presum-
ably became entrapped while attempting to eat embryos inside
the egg mass, as they are known to depredate L. sylvaticus eggs
(Vasconcelos and Calhoun 2006. Wetlands 26:992- 1003). Upon
further examination, it was evident that the egg mass had been
preyed upon based on the amount of damage observed, however
it was undet ermined if the entrapp ed larva or other Lithobates
larva present in the pond were responsible for the damage .
DANIEL A. DOUGLAS , Department of Biological Sciences, Eastern
Kentucky University, Richmond , Kentucky 40475, USA (e-mail: daniel.
douglas @eku.edu); ANDREA N. DRAYER, Department of Forestry, Univer-
sity of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40546, USA.
LITHOBATES SYLVATICUS (Wood Frog). UNUSUAL MORTAL-
ITY. Lithobates sylvaticus is a common species throughout the
northern United States and Canada. They are explosive breeders
that lay communal egg masses in ephemera l ponds during the
early spring . Lithobates sylvaticus are often the first amphi bian
breeders to arrive at these ponds (followed by Ambystoma jef-
fersonianum and A. maculatum; J. MacGregor, pers. comm .). On
warm, rainy nights, frogs can be seen and heard commuting to
H erpetological Review 44(3), 2013