Atelopus mindoensis

The Mindo stubfoot toad or Mindo harlequin-toad (Atelopus mindoensis) is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to Ecuador in Pichincha, Santo Domingo and Cotopaxi Provinces. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and rivers. It has a unique appearance and color pattern, being green and red with white speckles, and due to this it was once considered an emblematic species of the Mindo Valley.

Atelopus mindoensis

Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Bufonidae
Genus: Atelopus
Species:
A. mindoensis
Binomial name
Atelopus mindoensis
Peters, 1973

It is threatened by chytridomycosis and habitat loss, and was previously feared extinct, being last seen in Pichincha Province on May 7, 1989. It was not seen again for over 30 years, and any hopes for its survival and rediscovery were considered "unlikely", as the cloud forests it lived in were the most well-documented in the country. However, a remnant breeding population was discovered in 2019 in a privately-owned cloud forest preserve, and this discovery was documented in 2020.[2] This makes A. mindoensis one of the many members of its genus to be rediscovered in the 21st century following decades of no sightings.[3]

References
  1. Coloma, L.A.; Ron, S.; Bustamante, M.R.; Yánez-Muñoz, M.; Cisneros-Heredia, D.; Almendáriz, A. (2004). "Atelopus mindoensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2004: e.T54526A11161460. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T54526A11161460.en.
  2. "Mindo Harlequin-Toad rediscovered | Tropical Herping". www.tropicalherping.com. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
  3. Barrio-Amorós, César L.; Costales, Melissa; Vieira, José; Osterman, Eric; Kaiser, Hinrich; Arteaga, Alejandro (2020-04-14). "Back from extinction: rediscovery of the harlequin toad Atelopus mindoensis Peters, 1973 in Ecuador". Herpetology Notes. 13 (0): 325–328. ISSN 2071-5773.

Sources


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