Madagascaran Toadlets: Scaphiophrynidae

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) considers one species in this family to be Critically Endangered, which means that it is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. All of the members of this species, the red rain frog, live in two tiny spots in south-central Madagascar. One of these spots is inside a national park. People sometimes collect this beautiful species to sell in the pet trade, but this could be hurting the species because its numbers are so low.

According to the IUCN, other species in this family are at risk. It lists the species known only by its scientific name of Scaphiophryne boribory as Endangered and facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild; the green burrowing frog as Vulnerable and facing a high risk of extinction in the wild; and the Madagascar rain frog as Near Threatened and at risk of becoming threatened with extinction in the future. Two other species known by the scientific names of Scaphiophryne obscura and Scaphiophryne verrucosa are Data Deficient, which means that too little information is available to make a judgment about the threat of extinction. Some scientists think that these two species are actually one and the same and often list them both as Scaphiophryne verrucosa.