Barbourula kalimantanensis Iskandar, 1978
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
![Barbourula kalimantanensis habitat on Borneo; based on [1]](/assets/optimized/dd0410ed8d75007fc5da106ed0094ff993be7f7bf3f434f88a87aeb239e42bbe.webp)
Barbourula kalimantanensis habitat on Borneo; based on [1]
Masur · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Bornean flat-headed frog (Barbourula kalimantanensis) is a species of frog in the family Bombinatoridae. For many years, it was thought to be the only frog with no lungs. However, micro CT scanning revealed that, like all other known frog species, the Bornean flat-headed frog has lungs, though they are tiny.
Djoko Iskandar, an Indonesian zoologist, first described the Bornean flat-headed frog based on a single specimen. However, he did not think the frog was lungless until he was in the field with David Bickford's expedition. Bickford et al. dissected some of the specimens and were unable to see the lungs, leading them to incorrectly conclude that no lungs were present.
Wikipedia contributors, Bornean flat-headed frog; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T15:18:25.654264+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Barbourula kalimantanensis Iskandar, 1978
- Name authority
- Iskandar, 1978
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Amphibia
- Order
- Anura
- Family
- Bombinatoridae
- Genus
- Barbourula
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAmphibia
- orderAnura
- familyBombinatoridae Gray, 1825
- genusBarbourula Taylor & Noble, 1924
- speciesBarbourula kalimantanensis Iskandar, 1978
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=661624 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:KMPQ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.