Harlequin Frogs True Toads and Relatives: Bufonidae

Physical characteristics: Only male golden toads are golden, and they actually are more orange than gold. Some people even call them orange toads instead. The females are very dark green, almost black, with red markings. Both males and females have thin, bony-looking bodies, much different than many of the plump toads in this family. Their front and hind legs are quite thin. Besides their colors, males and females are different in size. The females are the larger of the two, growing to 1.7 to 2.2 inches (4.2 to 5.6 centimeters) long from snout to rump. The males usually reach 1.5 to 1.9 inches (3.9 to 4.8 centimeters) in length.

Geographic range: Now extinct, golden toads once lived along a mountain ridge in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve of Only male golden toads are golden, and they actually are more orange than gold. Some people even call them orange toads instead. The females are very dark green, almost black, with red markings. (Illustration by Brian Cressman. Reproduced by permission.) northwestern Costa Rica. For this reason, some people call it the Monteverde toad.

Habitat: Golden toads lived in mountain rainforests 4,920 to 5,250 feet (1,500 to 1,600 meters) above sea level.

Diet: Scientists had not yet learned about its diet before it became extinct in 1989.

Behavior and reproduction: The studies of this toad were mainly done during the breeding season, so very little is known about its behavior outside of mating and egg-laying. When heavy rains fell in the rainforest where this toad lived, hundreds of males would appear in groups. Scientists are not sure whether the males called. They did, however, notice that the number of males always outnumbered the females at a breeding site. Often, when a male would climb onto the back of a female to mate, one or more other males would begin wrestling with the first for the chance to push him off. If they were successful, one of these males would hop on the female, which would start yet another battle. The females laid their eggs in strings, and the eggs hatched into 1.2-inch (3-centimeter) tadpoles.

Golden toads and people: Following the extinction of this species, scientists became very concerned about the disappearance of frogs and toads around the world. The golden toad now serves as a symbol for amphibian conservation efforts.

Conservation status: Although scientists had seen large mating populations of the golden toad until 1987, its numbers dropped greatly in 1988 when only two females and eight males appeared at their normal breeding site. In 1989, a single, lone male arrived for mating season. He was the last golden toad ever seen. Although scientists do not know for sure, they think that infection with the chytrid fungus, pollution, and/or global warming, combined with the very small area in which they lived, may have caused the species to die out. ∎