Atelopus elegans

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AMPHIBIA	ANURA	BUFONIDAE

Scientific Name:

Atelopus elegans

Species Authority:

(Boulenger, 1882)

Common Name/s:

Spanish

–

Rana Jambato Del Pacífico

Synonym/s:

Atelopus gracilis Barbour, 1905

Taxonomic Notes:

The population on Gorgona Island (i.e., Atelopus gracilis) should be removed from the synonymy of Atelopus elegans (S. Lötters pers. comm.), but is here provisionally retained in A. elegans pending revision.

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Critically Endangered A2ace ver 3.1

Year Published:

2010

Assessor/s:

Luis A. Coloma, Santiago Ron, Wilmar Bolívar, Diego Cisneros-Heredia, Stefan Lötters

Reviewer/s:

Global Amphibian Assessment Coordinating Team (Simon Stuart, Janice Chanson, Neil Cox and Bruce Young)

Contributor/s:

Justification:
Listed as Critically Endangered because of a drastic population decline, estimated to be more than 80% over the last ten years, inferred from the apparent disappearance of most of the population.

History:

2004

–

Critically Endangered

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species occurs in north-western Ecuador in Esmeraldas, Imbabura, and Pichincha Provinces, at 300-1,140m asl, and on Gorgona Island, a small island 30km off the Colombian coast on the Pacific side, where it occurs close to sea level.
Countries:	Native: Colombia; Ecuador
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	In Ecuador, it has declined very seriously and has disappeared in the last ten years, with no records since November 1994, apart from one record in November 2002 from Bogotá River in Esmeralda Province. For example, in a recent survey, it was not found 5km north-west of Alluriquín (in Pichincha Province), where it used to be abundant (L. Coloma pers. comm.). On Gorgona Island, the species is still very common.
Population Trend:	Decreasing

Population:

In Ecuador, it has declined very seriously and has disappeared in the last ten years, with no records since November 1994, apart from one record in November 2002 from Bogotá River in Esmeralda Province. For example, in a recent survey, it was not found 5km north-west of Alluriquín (in Pichincha Province), where it used to be abundant (L. Coloma pers. comm.). On Gorgona Island, the species is still very common.

Population Trend:

Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	It lives in lowland and submontane humid rainforest, and has not been found in degraded habitats. It breeds in streams.
Systems:	Terrestrial; Freshwater

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	The decline in Ecuador is unexplained, and is possibly due to chytridiomycosis, although its elevational range is rather low for this disease. It is also impacted by habitat destruction and degradation, due to agriculture, logging, and human settlement.

Major Threat(s):

The decline in Ecuador is unexplained, and is possibly due to chytridiomycosis, although its elevational range is rather low for this disease. It is also impacted by habitat destruction and degradation, due to agriculture, logging, and human settlement.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	In Ecuador, its range overlaps with the Reserva Ecológica Cotacachi-Cayapas. In Colombia it occurs in the Parque Nacional Natural Isla Gorgona. It is an urgent priority to locate the Ecuadorian population and to implement emergency ex-situ conservation measures. Close monitoring of the population on Gorgona Island is needed, since, as far as is known, chytrid has not yet been recorded from this population.

Conservation Actions:

In Ecuador, its range overlaps with the Reserva Ecológica Cotacachi-Cayapas. In Colombia it occurs in the Parque Nacional Natural Isla Gorgona. It is an urgent priority to locate the Ecuadorian population and to implement emergency ex-situ conservation measures. Close monitoring of the population on Gorgona Island is needed, since, as far as is known, chytrid has not yet been recorded from this population.

Citation:	Luis A. Coloma, Santiago Ron, Wilmar Bolívar, Diego Cisneros-Heredia, Stefan Lötters 2010. Atelopus elegans. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 19 June 2013.
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