Darwin’s frog, also called the Southern Darwin's frog, is a species of Chilean/Argentinian frog of the family Rhinodermatidae. It was discovered by Charles Darwin during his voyage on HMS Beagle. on a trip to Chile. In 1841, French zoologist André Marie Constant Duméril and his assistant Gabriel Bibron described and named Darwin's frog. The diet of R. darwinii consists mostly of herbivore invertebrates. R. darwinii is currently classified as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
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 extinctions of amphibian species in western North America, Central America, South America, eastern Australia, east Africa (Tanzania), and Dominica and Montserrat in the Caribbean. Much of the New World is also at risk of the disease arriving within the coming years. The fungus is capable of causing sporadic deaths in some amphibian populations and 100% mortality in others. No effective measure is known for control of the disease in wild populations. Various clinical signs are seen by individuals affected by the disease. A number of options are possible for controlling this disease-causing fungus, though none has proved to be feasible on a large scale. The disease has been proposed as a contributing factor to a global decline in amphibian populations that apparently has affected about 30% of the amphibian species of the world. Some research found evidence insufficient for linking chytrid fungi and chytridiomycosis to global amphibian declines, but more recent research establishes a connection and attributes the spread of the disease to its transmission through international trade routes into native ecosystems.
The glass frogs belong to the amphibian family Centrolenidae, native to the Central American Rainforests. The general background coloration of most glass frogs is primarily lime green, the abdominal skin of some members of this family is transparent and translucent, giving the glass frog its common name. The internal viscera, including the heart, liver, and gastrointestinal tract, are visible through the skin. When active their blood makes them visible; when sleeping most of the blood is concealed in the liver, hiding them. Glass frogs are arboreal, living mainly in trees, feeding on small insects and only coming out for mating season. Their transparency conceals them very effectively when sleeping on a green leaf, as they habitually do. However, climate change and habitat frangmentation has been threatening the survival rates of the family.
Holdridge's toad, formerly Bufo holdridgei, is a species of toad endemic to Costa Rica. In October 2008, it was declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in its Red List since the species had not been seen since 1987, despite years of extensive searches. However, the species was rediscovered in 2010 by a Costa Rican herpetologist and is now classified as critically endangered. It is believed that the species is most threatened by the presence of the chytrid fungus in its habitat.
The boreal chorus frog is a species of chorus frog native to Canada from central Quebec to eastern British Columbia and north to the Northwest Territories and the southern portion of the Yukon. It occurs in the USA throughout Montana, northwestern Wisconsin, northeastern Arizona, northern New Mexico, and southwestern Utah.
Phyllobates bicolor, or more commonly referred to as the black-legged poison dart frog, is the world's second-most toxic dart frog. Under the genus Phyllobates, this organism is often mistaken as Phyllobates terribilis, the golden poison frog, as both are morphologically similar. However, Phyllobatesbicolor is identifiable by the yellow or orange body and black or dark blue forelimbs and hindlegs, hence the name black-legged dart frog. Phyllobates bicolor are commonly found in tropical forests of the Chocó region of Colombia. The diurnal frogs live along the rainforest ground near streams or puddles that form. Notably, P. bicolor is a member of the family Dendrobatidae, or poison dart frog. P. bicolor, along with the rest of the Phyllobates species, produce a neurotoxin known as a batrachotoxin that inhibits specific transmembrane channels in cells. Due to this highly deadly toxin that the frogs secrete, many indigenous groups of the Colombian rainforest have extracted the toxins to create poison tipped darts used for hunting. During the breeding period, P. bicolor emits high pitched single notes as a mating call. As in all poison dart frogs, it is common for the father of tadpoles to carry the offspring on his back until they reach a suitable location for the tadpoles to develop. P. bicolor is an endangered species according to the IUCN red list. Currently, deforestation, habitat loss, and pollution pose the biggest threat to the species. Limited conservation efforts have been attempted to prevent further damage to the species. Despite this, there are still institutions such as the Baltimore National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland and the Tatamá National Natural Park in Colombia that are engaged in P. bicolor conservation efforts such as captive breeding.
Coquí is a common name for several species of small frogs in the genus Eleutherodactylus native to Puerto Rico. They are onomatopoeically named for the very loud mating call which the males of two species, the common coqui and the upland coqui, make at night. The coquí is one of the most common frogs in Puerto Rico, with more than 16 different species found within its territory, including 13 in El Yunque National Forest. Other species of this genus can be found in the rest of the Caribbean and elsewhere in the Neotropics, in Central and South America. The coquí is an unofficial national symbol of Puerto Rico; there is a Puerto Rican expression that goes, "Soy de aquí, como el coquí", which translates to "I'm from here, like the coquí."
The common mist frog is a species of tree frog native to north-eastern Queensland, Australia. It is a medium-sized frog and a member of the Australian torrent treefrog group. The common mist frog is found in remote, mountainous areas, and near rocky, fast-flowing rainforest streams such as those in north-eastern Queensland, Australia. They are generally sedentary frogs, and remain in the stream environments that they are born into, preferring sections of the stream with riffles, many rocks, and overhanging vegetation.
Atelopus varius, the Costa Rican variable harlequin toad or clown frog, is a small Neotropical true toad from the family Bufonidae. Once ranging from Costa Rica to Panama, A. varius is now listed as critically endangered and has been reduced to a single remnant population near Quepos, Costa Rica, and has only relict populations in western Panama. Recent variation in air temperature, precipitation, stream flow patterns, and the subsequent spread of a pathogenic chytrid fungus linked to global climate change have been the leading cause of decline for A. varius. A. zeteki has been considered a subspecies of A. varius, but is now generally considered a separate species.
The Andes giant glass frog is a species of frog in the family Centrolenidae. It is found in the Cordillera Oriental of Colombia and the Mérida Andes and Serranía del Perijá of Venezuela.
Hyalinobatrachium fleischmanni, also known as Fleischmann's glass frog or the northern glass frog, is a species of frog in the family Centrolenidae. It is found in the tropical Americas from southern Mexico to Ecuador. Specifically, these frogs occur in Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador. Notice that this and related species have often been confused with each other, and the exact distribution depends on the source. This frog tends to have green skin, pale yellowish spots, yellow fingertips and translucent skin covering its stomach.
Colostethus panamansis, also known as the Panama rocket frog or (ambiguously) common rocket frog, is a species of poison dart frog. It is found in northwestern Colombia and Panama. It is one of the best studied poison dart frogs; however, until 2004 Colostethus panamansis was considered a synonym of Colostethus inguinalis, and consequently the older literature uses that name.
The lovely poison frog or lovely poison-arrow frog is a species of frog in the family Dendrobatidae. It is found on the Caribbean versant of Central America from southeastern Nicaragua through Costa Rica to northwestern Panama, with one record just west of the Panama Canal. Populations from the Pacific versant, formerly included in this species, are now identified as Phyllobates vittatus.
The Copan brook frog is a species of frog in the family Hylidae found in northeastern Guatemala and northwestern Honduras, specifically in the Sierra del Merendón, Sierra de Omoa, Sierra de Caral, and Sierra Espíritu Santo ranges. The colouring of this species is very distinctive and the specific name soralia comes from the resemblance of its markings to the vegetative structures on some crustose lichens.
Agalychnis lemur, the lemur leaf frog or lemur frog, is a species of frog in the subfamily Phyllomedusinae. It is found in Costa Rica, Panama, and adjacent northwestern Colombia. It is classed as Critically Endangered and threatened by the fungal disease chytridiomycosis.
The green-eyed treefrog is a species of Australasian treefrog in the subfamily Pelodryadinae that occurs in the Wet Tropics of Australia.
The Nigeria banana frog is a species of frog in the family Hyperoliidae. It is found in southeastern Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and western Nigeria; it appears to be missing from Togo and Benin. Its natural habitat is primary rainforests, but it can also be found in a farm bush. The eggs are laid on vegetation, overhanging temporary ponds. It is threatened by habitat loss caused by agricultural encroachment, expanding human settlements, and logging. A high prevalence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, the fungus causing chytridiomycosis, that has been associated with amphibian declines elsewhere, has been demonstrated in specimens collected from the Okomu National Park in Nigeria.
The Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog or Sierra Nevada Mountain yellow-legged frog is a true frog endemic to the Sierra Nevada of California and Nevada in the United States. It was formerly considered Rana muscosa until a 2007 study elevated the more central and northern populations to full species status, restricting R. muscosa to the southern Sierra Nevada and southern California.
The golden toad is an extinct species of true toad that was once abundant in a small, high-altitude region of about 4 square kilometres (1.5 sq mi) in an area north of the city of Monteverde, Costa Rica. It was endemic to elfin cloud forest. Also called the Monte Verde toad, Alajuela toad and orange toad, it is commonly considered the "poster child" for the amphibian decline crisis. This toad was first described in 1966 by herpetologist Jay Savage. The last sighting of a single male golden toad was on 15 May 1989, and it has since been classified as extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Espadarana is a genus of glass frogs. They are found in Central America and northern South America.
