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- HABITAT- TROPCAL FOREST OF COSTA RICE. SIXE AND WEIGHT - ABOUT 2-3 INCHES LONG AN ONE OUNCE.DIET - INSECTSCHARACTERISTIC - BRIGHT ORANGE MALES ; LARGER, LESS COLORFUL
- GOLDEN TOAD
- Conservation Status:ExtinctCause of Decline:DiseaseLocation:South AmericaCollection:AmphibiansFMNH catalogue no. 167967
- Last seen in 1989--and presumed to be extinct, unless some individuals are miraculously discovered elsewhere in Costa Rica--the Golden Toad has become the poster genus for the mysterious worldwide decline in amphibian populations. The Golden Toad was discovered in 1964, by a naturalist visiting a high-altitude Costa Rican "cloud forest;" the bright orange, almost unnatural color of the males made an immediate impression, although the slightly larger females were much less ornate. For the next 25 years, the Golden Toad could only be observed during the spring mating season, when large groups of males would swarm over less numerous females in small ponds and puddles.
- The extinction of the Golden Toad was sudden and mysterious. As recently as 1987, over a thousand adults were observed mating, then only a single individual in 1988 and 1989 and none thereafter. There are two possible explanations for the demise of the Golden Toad: first, since this amphibian relied on very specialized breeding conditions, the population could have been knocked for a loop by sudden changes in climate (even two years of unusual weather would have been enough to wipe out such an isolated species). And second, it's possible that the Golden Toad succumbed to the same fungal infection that has been implicated in other amphibian extinctions around the world.
- As amphibians breathe through their skin, they are particularly sensitive to subtle changes in their environments brought on by an increase in temperature or pollutants. They are likened to the proverbial canary in a coalmine as early indicators of catastrophic changes in ecosystems. In 2009, the Amphibian Survival Alliance was launched to save what remains of the 30 percent of amphibian species that are threatened with extinction
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