Golden Toad
(Bufo periglenes)

Description
This small, tropical toad is very brightly coloured. The males are bright orange and the females range in colour from olive green to black, with red markings.

Distribution
The golden toad is highly restricted to an area of undisturbed lower montane wet forest, elevation 1,480-1,600 m, approximately 0.5 km by 8 km. This site is within the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, in Costa Rica, a country in Central America.

Biology and Behaviour
Golden toads were only discovered in the 1960s. They breed in shallow pools, such as those created between the roots of trees. Eggs have even been found in a water filled depression caused by a footprint. The egg cluch laid is very small for an amphibian, averaging 200.

Reasons for Decline
The population of golden toads in 1987 was 1,500. Of these, only one toad could be found in 1989. No toads have been found in their known breeding grounds since then.

Many other more common species of frog and toad also disappeared that year although they are now recolonising the area. The cause of decline is still unknown. Large year to year changes in population size are normal for amphibians, but this population could have been so small, and in such a restricted area that it was unable to recover from a local disaster.

The disappearance of this species could also have been part of the worldwide decline in many amphibian species for which a number of causes have been suggested.

Current Status
Unless there are other undiscovered populations of the golden toad in the more inaccessible parts of the Monteverde Preserve, then this species may be extinct. Amphibians may live a relatively long time and it is difficult to find them when they are not breeding; however, the chances of them still surviving are slim.

References and Further Reading

Pounds, J.A. and Fogden, M.P. (1996) Conservation of the Golden Toad: A Brief History, .British Herpetological Society Bulletin. No. 55, 5-7.
Crump, M.L., Hensley, F.R, and Clark, K.L. (1992). Apparent decline of the Golden Toad: Underground or extinct? Copeia, 413-420.
Pounds, J.A and Crump, M.L., Amphibian declines and climate disturbance: The case of the Golden Toad and the Harlequin Frog. Conservation Biology, 8, 72-85.

Golden Toad (Bufo periglenes)

Monteverde Toad

kingdom:		Animalia
phylum:		Chordate
class:		Amphibia
order:		Anura
family:		Bufonidae
genus:		Bufo

size:		5 centimetres
mass:		Unclassified grams