A group of Vietnamese and Australian scientists came across a new species of frog in central Vietnam's Langbian plateau. The experts say that the newly discovered amphibian, is the first recorded specimens of Leptobrachium leucops that thrives at an altitude of between 1,558 and 1,900 meters along the border between Lam Dong and Khanh Hoa provinces.

Studying its appearance, certain distinctions from similar frogs were noted including its smaller body size (length of 4.5 cm ) and dark belly. The upper portion of the creature's irises are white, with ridges on their skin and several stripes on their four limbs. Leptobrachium leucops, as they termed the amphibian,
is a nocturnal creature. There has been a rapid increase in the number of frog species in recent years. Part of the reason for the amphibian explosion is that regions once unavailable for sampling are now open to researchers.

And with technology used to identify new species now more available and accessible, distinguishing one specimen from the other has become more efficient. These equipments recognize species both through DNA and through acoustic tools that detect their calls. Frogs recognize each other through noises, while humans have always picked them out by sight. Eleven species have been reported from Indochina and all but two of those also have been reported from Vietnam. Since 2008, expertss from Australia and Vietnam have been hunting the Vietnamese Langbian Plateau for undiscovered amphibians.

In January, an Australian scientist discovered a species of gliding tree frog (named as vampire flying frog ) that bore tadpoles with black fangs in southern Vietnam. Scientists’ effort to uncover more specimens is not just to add a fancy new frog to the list of amphibians in the region, but reasserts how Vietnam’s wide frontiers can be so full of undiscovered species awaiting to be explored.