Atelopus limosus
{{Short description|Species of amphibian}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Limosa harlequin frog
| image = Atelopus limosus female.jpg
| image_caption = Atelopus limosus female
| status = CR
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| taxon = Atelopus limosus
| authority = Ibáñez, Jaramillo & Solís, 1995{{cite journal |author=Ibáñez, R. |author2=C. A. Jaramillo |author3=F. A. Solís |name-list-style=amp |year=1995 |title=Una especie nueva de Atelopus (Amphibia: Bufonidae) de Panama |journal=Caribbean Journal of Science |volume=31 |issue=1-2 |pages=57–64 |url=http://www.atelopus.com/uploads/pdf/P057-064.pdf}}
| synonyms =
}}
Atelopus limosus, the limosa harlequin frog ({{langx|es|sapo limoso}}) is an endangered species of toad in the family Bufonidae endemic to Panama.{{cite web |url=http://research.amnh.org/vz/herpetology/amphibia/Amphibia/Anura/Bufonidae/Atelopus/Atelopus-limosus |title=Atelopus limosus Ibáñez, Jaramillo, and Solís, 1995 |author=Frost, Darrel R. |year=2014 |work=Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0 |publisher=American Museum of Natural History |accessdate=14 September 2014}} Its natural habitats are stream banks in tropical moist lowland forests and rivers of the Chagres watershed in central Panama.
Description
Atelopus limosus has two color forms. A lowland color form is brown with a yellow nose and fingertips, mean the male species while the upland color form is green with black chevron markings on its back. Males and females of both color forms are sexually dimorphic. Males are smaller with white bellies speckled with black spots, while females tend to have red or orange bellies.
Little is known of their diet in the wild, but it is presumably similar to that of other Atelopus species that forage on beetles, ants, flies, and mites.P Durant, JW Dole (1974) [https://www.jstor.org/pss/3892038 Food of Atelopus oxyrhynchus (Anura: Atelopodidae) in a Venezuelan cloud forest] Herpetologica 30:183-187 In captivity, the frogs readily accept large fruit flies, small meal-worm larvae, and small crickets.
Conservation
File:Atelopus limosus female 02.jpg
A. limosus is threatened by chytridiomycosis and habitat loss. Species have been rapidly declining throughout their range. About 75% of all known species from highland sites above 1000 m have disappeared, while 58% of lowland species have declined and 38% have disappeared.{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1111/j.1744-7429.2005.00026.x| title = Catastrophic population declines and extinctions in Neotropical harlequin frogs (Bufonidae: Atelopus)| journal = Biotropica| volume = 37| issue = 2| pages = 190–201| year = 2005| last1 = La Marca | first1 = E. | last2 = Lips | first2 = K. R. | last3 = Lotters | first3 = S. | last4 = Puschendorf | first4 = R. | last5 = Ibanez | first5 = R. | last6 = Rueda-Almonacid | first6 = J. V. | last7 = Schulte | first7 = R. | last8 = Marty | first8 = C. | last9 = Castro | first9 = F. | last10 = Manzanilla-Puppo | first10 = J. | last11 = Garcia-Perez | first11 = J. E. | last12 = Bolanos | first12 = F. | last13 = Chaves | first13 = G. | last14 = Pounds | first14 = J. A. | last15 = Toral | first15 = E. | last16 = Young | first16 = B. E. }} Worried about the effects of chytridiomycosis on this endemic Panamanian frog, the [http://www.amphibianrescue.org Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project] targeted A. limosus as a priority rescue species to be taken into captivity as an assurance colony at the Summit Municipal Park in Panama City. When the rescue team arrived at one of the last known upland sites at Cerro Brewster, they found many of the frogs were already infected with chytridiomycosis.{{cite web |url=http://amphibianrescue.org/?p=230 |title=Panama amphibian rescue challenged by rapid spread of chytrid fungus |date=12 January 2010 |publisher=Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project |accessdate=14 September 2014}} The captive-breeding program has been successful.{{cite web |url=http://amphibianrescue.org/tag/limosa-harlequin-frog/ |title=Rescue Project Successfully Breeds Endangered Frog Species |author=Lindsay Renick Mayer |date=22 March 2013 |publisher=Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project |accessdate=14 September 2014}} While the upland region seems to have been hard-hit by chytrid fungus, the fate of lowland populations of this species is uncertain, as chytridiomycosis appears to have more pronounced effects at upland sites.
References
{{Commons category|Atelopus limosus}}
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2701339}}
Category:Amphibians described in 1995