Atelopus varius

Costa Rican variable harlequin toad
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Bufonidae
Genus: Atelopus
Species:
A. varius
Binomial name
Atelopus varius
(Lichtenstein and Martens, 1856)
Synonyms[1]
Synonymy
  • Atelopus bibronii Boulenger, 1894
  • Atelopus loomisi Taylor, 1955
  • Hylaemorphus bibronii Schmidt, 1857
  • Hylaemorphus dumerilii Schmidt, 1857
  • Hylaemorphus pluto Schmidt, 1858
  • Hylaemorphus plutonius Jan, 1857
  • Phrynidium bibronii (Schmidt, 1857)
  • Phrynidium varium Lichtenstein & Martens, 1856
  • Phryniscus bibronii (Schmidt, 1857)
  • Phryniscus dumerilii Brocchi, 1882
  • Phryniscus varius (Lichtenstein & Martens, 1856)

Atelopus varius, the Costa Rican variable harlequin toad or clown frog, is a small Neotropical true toad from the family Bufonidae.[2] 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 (rediscovered in 2003), and has only relict populations in western Panama.[1] Recent variation in air temperature, precipitation, stream flow patterns, and the subsequent spread of a pathogenic chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) linked to global climate change have been the leading cause of decline for A. varius.[3][4] A. zeteki has been considered a subspecies of A. varius, but is now generally considered a separate species.[5][page needed]

  1. ^ a b c IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2020). "Atelopus varius". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T54560A3016252. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T54560A3016252.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ Crump, M.L. 1986. "Homing and site fidelity in a Neotropical frog, Atelopus varius (Bufonidae)." Copeia 1986(4): 1007–1009. doi:10.2307/1445001 JSTOR 1445001
  3. ^ Lips, K.R., Green, D.E. and Papendick, R. 2003. "Chytridiomycosis in wild frogs from southern Costa Rica." Journal of Herpetology 37(1): 215–218. JSTOR 1565857
  4. ^ Pounds, J.A., Bustamante, M.R., Coloma, L.A., Consuegra, J.A., Fogden, M.P.L., Foster, P.N., La Marca, E., Masters, K.L., Merino-Viteri, A., Puschendorf, R., Ron, S.R., Sánchez-Azofeifa, G.A., Still, C.J. and Young, B.E. 2006. "Widespread amphibian extinctions from epidemic disease driven by global warming." Nature 439: 161–167. doi:10.1038/nature04246
  5. ^ Savage, J.M. 2002. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. ISBN 0-226-73537-0