''Atelopus certus'', the Darien stubfoot toad or Toad Mountain harlequin frog, is a species of

toad Toad (also known as a hoptoad) is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. In popular culture (folk taxonomy ...

in the family

Bufonidae {{Cat main, Toad This category Category, plural categories, may refer to: General uses *Classification, the general act of allocating things to classes/categories Philosophy * Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) * Category (Kant) * C ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

Geographic range

The toad is

to the Darien region of eastern Panama, and its type locality is Cerro Sapo (literally "toad mountain"), giving it its common names Refrigerator and xylophone.

Habitat

Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are tropical montane and submontane forests. It breeds in forest streams where the

tadpole A tadpole or polliwog (also spelled pollywog) is the Larva, larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully Aquatic animal, aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial animal, ...

s also develop.

Conservation status

The species is threatened primarily by the advancing wave of

chytridiomycosis Chytridiomycosis ( ) is an infectious disease in amphibians, caused by the chytrid fungi '' Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis'' and '' Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans''. Chytridiomycosis has been linked to dramatic population declines or extinc ...

moving through Central America, and secondarily by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

, although much of its range falls within the

Darién National Park Darién National Park () is a World Heritage Site in Panama. It is about from Panama City, is the most extensive of all national parks of Panama, and is one of the most important World Heritage Sites in Central America. Geography The Darién ...

, a protected area and world heritage site. Because so many other ''

Atelopus ''Atelopus'' is a large genus of Bufonidae, commonly known as harlequin frogs or toads, from Central America, Central and South America, ranging as far north as Costa Rica and as far south as Bolivia. ''Atelopus'' species are small, generally br ...

'' species are in steep declines, this amphibian is seen as a priority species for ''ex situ'' conservation. In June 2010, a team of conservation partners working under the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project mounted an expedition to the Darien and brought back a founding population of these frogs to begin an ''ex situ'' conservation program at Summit Municipal Park near

Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...

.Brian Gratwicke: In search of the Toad Mountain Harlequin Frog
- Accessed September 28, 2010 A documentary film about this effort was aired in 2011 on Smithsonian Networks entitle
''Mission Critical: Amphibian Rescue''

Geographic range

Habitat

Conservation status

References

Further reading