Using DNA barcoding techniques (extracting and analyzing genetic material from various samples) researchers were able to correctly identify the theloderma corticale and confirm the frog's range is indeed greater than just northern Vietnam.

[5] It is now known to be found in northern Vietnam, south–central Laos, and southern China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan).

[2] The common name "mossy frog" arises from the fact that its skin is a mottled green and brown that resembles moss growing on rock, and forms an effective form of camouflage.

[3][4] Its natural habitats are primarily evergreen rainforests and subtropical forest where they have been found inside pools in hollowed-out logs, placed by the local villagers.

Like many amphibians, the Vietnamese mossy frog is vulnerable to the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis.