The golden toad (Bufo periglenes) was a small, shiny, bright true toad that was once abundant in a small region of high-altitude cloud-covered tropical forests, about 10 square kilometres (3.9 sq mi) in area, above the city of Monteverde, Costa Rica. For this reason, it is sometimes also called the Monteverde golden toad, or the Monte Verde toad. Other common English names include Alajuela toad and orange toad. They were first described in 1966 by the herpetologist Jay Savage. Since 15 May 1989, not a single B. periglenes is reported to have been seen anywhere in the world, and it is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as an extinct species. Its sudden extinction might have been caused by chytrid fungus and extensive habitat loss.
Read more about Golden Toad: Description, Conservation History
Famous quotes containing the words golden and/or toad:
“But when the bowels of the earth were sought,
And men her golden entrails did espy,
This mischief then into the world was brought,
This framed the mint which coined our misery.
...
And thus began th’exordium of our woes,
The fatal dumb-show of our misery;
Here sprang the tree on which our mischief grows,
The dreary subject of world’s tragedy.”
—Michael Drayton (1563–1631)
“We were watched. I didn’t see anything, I felt it, in my stomach. I was a toad on a wet rock. A snake was looking at my back.”
—John Paxton (1911–1985)