Atelopus varius (Lichtenstein and Martens, 1856)

Harlequin toad

Species recognized by The Integrated Taxonomic Information System external link, T Orrell (custodian) in 
IUCN Red List Status: Critically Endangered (CR) external link Showing: scientific names

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General Description

Description

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AmphibiaWeb external link
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See http://www.amphibiaweb.org/datause.html.. Some rights reserved external link
Author
Sean Schoville
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Dorsal coloration is mottled light and dark, with ground coloration ranging from lime-green to yellow-orange and surface markings in black (from dots to uniform coloring). The ventral surface ranges from yellow-green to orange with the same type of black surface markings. The throat and venter can appear bright scarlet, and the groin can appear blue-green or green. The snout is short, and in profile acute or rounded. The pupil is horizontally elliptical, there is no tympanum, and there are no distinct glandular ridges. Paired elongate vocal slits run parallel and lateral to the tongue; males have an internal vocal sac. Males have webbing between the first and second finger, and the first finger also bears a nuptial pad. Toes are webbed except for IV, and there is no tarsal fold (all descriptions from Savage 1972). Snout-vent length of adult males ranges from 25 to 41 mm, and females are 33 to 60 mm in length (Savage 1972; Crump 1988). Both bufadienolide and tetrodotoxin skin toxins are present in wild A. varius (Daly et al. 1997).
 
This once common species was last seen in 1996 (Bolaños pers com) and thought to be extinct. A new population was recently discovered in the Rainmaker project in 2003.

A Spanish-language species account can be found at the website of Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INBio).

"Atelopus varius (Lichtenstein and Martens, 1856)". Encyclopedia of Life, available from "http://www.eol.org/pages/330754". Accessed 20 Mar 2010.