Rio Pescado Stubfoot Toad
- Status
- This animal is currently Critically Endangered
- Endangered
- Least Concern
- Near Threatened
- Vulnerable
Rio Pescado Stubfoot Toad
Atelopus balios
Thought to be extinct until its rediscovery in 2011, the Rio Pescado stubfoot toad is classified is Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). During the 1980s, numerous species of frogs and toads were in decline due to chytridiomycosis, an infectious disease of amphibians caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). It was believed that the stubfoot toad had gone extinct due to this disease, but a small population was discovered during an expedition led by Conservation International. This species came to live at Philadelphia Zoo because one of our conservation partners, Zoo Amaru Amphibian Conservation Center in Ecuador, works to protect and study these toads and many species like them.
What are they like?
Physical Description: Stubfoot toads have yellow-green coloration on their backs with black or brown spots. They have white bellies and orange hands and feet. Males are smaller and thinner than females, growing to be about 32 mm in length versus females at 35-37 mm in length.
Life Span: The average life span of the stubfoot toad in both the wild and in zoos is currently unknown.
Diet: In the wild, these toads eat insects and spiders. At the Zoo, our toads are fed insects like crickets and fruit flies five times per week. Their insects are sometimes dusted in a vitamin supplement.
Social Structure: Because the stubfoot toad was thought to be fully extinct up until their rediscovery in 2011, very little is known about the social structure of this species currently.
Habitat: Stubfoot toads inhabit lowland rainforest and have been found on riverbanks, where they breed along streams.
Where do they live?
The Rio Pescado stubfoot toad is endemic to the coastal lowlands in southwestern Ecuador in lowland rainforests and along riverbanks.
Ecuador
Did you know?
- This species was declared extinct in 1995 but was rediscovered in a very small area of Ecuador in 2011.
- Stubfoot toads are diurnal and are both arboreal and terrestrial.
- They breed along streams, where the moving water tends to be loud—so males will wave their hands at females to attract their attention.
