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| Atelopus mindoensis Peters, 1973
in Barrio Amorós, Costales, Vieira, et al., 2020.
Herpetology Notes. 13
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Harlequin toads (genus Atelopus Duméril & Bibron,
1841; Bufonidae) are the vertebrate genus that appears
to have suffered the most dramatic population declines
throughout their range in the Neotropics over the past
several decades (La Marca, 2005; Scheele et al., 2019).
As a focal point for harlequin toad diversity, Ecuador
possesses the second-highest number of species (25),
and of these, 18 (72%) are endemic to Ecuador (Centro
Jambatu, 2011–2017). Thirteen of these 25 species
(52%) have not been seen since the late 1980s or early
1990s (La Marca et al., 2005; Coloma et al., 2010). As
a consequence, all 25 species are currently categorized
as threatened in Ecuador according to IUCN Red List
criteria (IUCN, 2012): ten are classified as Critically
Endangered (Possibly Extinct), 14 as Critically
Endangered, and one as Endangered (Centro Jambatu,
2011–2020).
One of the species in the CR (Possibly Extinct)
category is Atelopus mindoensis Peters, 1973 (IUCN
SSC Amphibian Specialist Group, 2018), which was
described from Mindo, Pichincha Province, Ecuador by
Peters (1973), and which has been recorded from the
provinces of Cotopaxi, Pichincha, Santo Domingo de los
Tsáchilas, and Esmeraldas, with all locations situated on
the western slopes of the Andes between 500 and 2200
m in elevation (Lötters, 1996; IUCN SSC Amphibian
Specialist Group, 2018). Arteaga et al. (2013) mentioned
that the species was absent from suitable habitats in
Mindo, its type locality. Individuals of A. mindoensis
were last seen alive on 7 May 1989 between Mindo and
Nanegalito, Pichincha Province, as reported by Coloma
et al. (2016a). The species was considered as possibly
extinct by Coloma et al. (2016a).
...
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| Figure 1. (A) The first individual of Atelopus mindoensis seen in the wild since 1989, a juvenile (SVL ca. 12 mm) photographed in situ. (B) Young A. mindoensis observed in mossy habitat by day. (C) Adult male A. mindoensis in frontal view, showing the ventral colouration. (D) Cryptic dorsal patterning seen in A. mindoensis, here displayed by the individual as in (C).
Photos by Eric Osterman (A), Melissa Costales (B), and Jose Vieira (C, D).
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César L. Barrio Amorós, Melissa Costales, Jose Vieira, Eric Osterman, Hinrich Kaiser and Alejandro Arteaga. 2020. Back from Extinction: Rediscovery of the Harlequin Toad
Atelopus mindoensis Peters, 1973 in Ecuador. Herpetology Notes. 13; 325-328.
