(Image source: LiveScience)

BY STEVEN SPARKMAN

ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN

You're watching multisource science video news analysis from Newsy. 

After nearly a century, conservationists are finally getting a look at a colorful animal they’d only seen in black and white.

ABC News reports.

“One of the world's 10 most-wanted amphibians has finally been spotted (no pun intended). The Borneo Rainbow Toad, known for its vibrant, patchy coloring and unusually slender limbs, eluded scientists for 87 years before being spotted recently in the forest on the Malaysia-Indonesia border.”

The toad was reportedly last seen in 1924.

Since then, the only images scientists had were illustrations made by European explorers. It’s safe to say the monochrome drawings didn’t do the animal justice -- the first-ever photo of the Rainbow Toad shows it lives up to its name. (Image source: LiveScience)

The researchers spent months in the forests of Borneo looking for the little toad. They were part of a world-wide hunt for amphibians not seen for more than a decade. LiveScience explains.

“The large search involved 126 researchers who scoured areas in 21 countries, on five continents, between August and December 2010. The hope was to determine whether the lost amphibians had survived increasing pressures, such as habitat loss, climate change and disease...”

Despite the widespread search, the Rainbow Toad is only the second critter to make a reappearance. Conservation International -- one of the groups behind the search -- says 30 percent of amphibian species are still in danger of extinction. The group’s amphibian specialist says he hopes finding a few lost frogs will help spur more conservation efforts.

“It is good to know that nature can surprise us when we are close to giving up hope, especially amidst our planet’s escalating extinction crisis. Amphibians are at the forefront of this tragedy, so I hope that these unique species serve as flagships for conservation, inspiring pride and hope by Malaysians and people everywhere.”

The three specimens the researchers found were an adult male and female and a juvenile. They were between one and two inches long.

Transcript by Newsy.