Similar frogs also occur in Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and southern China; these may be R. nigropalmatus or an undescribed, closely related species.

Together with a fringe of skin stretching between the limbs, this flying frog can parachute to the forest floor from high in the trees where it is normally found.

The membranes between their toes and loose skin flaps on their sides catch the air as they fall, helping them to glide, sometimes 50 feet (15 meters) or more, to a neighboring tree branch or even all the way to the ground.

[7] Young frogs are red with white spots for around a year before maturing into green adults, which is thought to ward off predation by mimicking feces.

It has been found both in primary forest and in areas that had been subject to logging, ranging in elevation between 700 and 1800 feet above sea level.