Common Name: Coloma’s Harlequin Toad
Scientific Name: Atelopus colomai
Family: Bufonidae – True Toad family
Location: Ecuador
Female Size: 1.0 – 1.3 inches (26 – 34 mm)
Male Size: 0.8 – 1.0 inches (21 – 26 mm)
The Coloma’s Harlequin Toad was described by researchers Amadeus Plewnia, Andrea Terán-Valdez, Jaime Culebras, Renaud Boistel, Daniel Paluh, Amanda Quezada, Christopher Heine, Juan Reyes-Puig, David Salazar-Valenzuela, Juan Guayasamin, and Stefan Lötters. The new species wasn’t found out under a log or by a stream but in the lab through a comprehensive phylogenetic study. Really really exciting stuff to write about in a blog post. Basically, the researchers used genetic tests to identify potential new species then they checked out some of the traits that the researchers could quantify to see if there’s any differences that could make it a new species.
The Coloma’s Harlequin Toad was named after Luis A. Coloma, a friend and colleague of the researchers who described the species. He has been studying and protecting Harlequin Toads for decades.
For a newly described species, there is a little more info about its life history than most new species. Males have been observed calling for females in August and September with calling intensity peaking after rainfall. The males call from territories they establish around streams that they will even defend from other males by calling and following the intruding males around.
Technically, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List has not assessed the species yet. However, the researchers who described the species believe it should be assessed as Endangered due to the toad only be found in 6 places that are all threatened by deforestation, agriculture, road construction, and pollution. Due to the danger to the species, individual toads have already been brought into captivity to create a survival colony.