Atelopus balios

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

Bibliography

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AMPHIBIA	ANURA	BUFONIDAE

Scientific Name:	Atelopus balios
Species Authority:	Peters, 1973

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Critically Endangered A2ace ver 3.1
Year Published:	2004
Assessor/s:	Diego Cisneros-Heredia, Mario Yánez-Muñoz, Luis A. Coloma, Santiago Ron
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 three generations, inferred from the apparent disappearance of most of the population, probably due to chytridiomycosis.

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species is known from only four localities in Azuay, Cañar, and Guayas Provinces in the Pacific lowlands of south-western Ecuador, from 200-460m asl.
Countries:	Possibly extinct: Ecuador
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	This is now considered a very rare species. There have been no records since April 1995 despite repeated searches. It is no longer found at Río Patul (in Azuay province), where it used to be abundant (L. Coloma pers. comm.).
Population Trend:	Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	It is an inhabitant of lowland rainforest, and has been found on riverbanks. There is no specific information known about breeding habits, though it is likely to be similar to other Atelopus species, with breeding taking place in streams.
Systems:	Terrestrial; Freshwater

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	This species seems to have disappeared, as with many other Atelopus species, likely due to chytridiomycosis, although the altitude at which it occurs is low (the disease normally occurs at higher altitudes in the tropics). Habitat degradation and loss, due to agriculture (crops and livestock) and logging, and pollution, continue to be very serious threats.

Major Threat(s):

This species seems to have disappeared, as with many other Atelopus species, likely due to chytridiomycosis, although the altitude at which it occurs is low (the disease normally occurs at higher altitudes in the tropics). Habitat degradation and loss, due to agriculture (crops and livestock) and logging, and pollution, continue to be very serious threats.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	The range of the species does not include any protected areas. As the species might be extinct, it might be too late for conservation measures such as captive breeding; additional survey work is required to confirm the continued persistence of this species in the wild.

Conservation Actions:

The range of the species does not include any protected areas. As the species might be extinct, it might be too late for conservation measures such as captive breeding; additional survey work is required to confirm the continued persistence of this species in the wild.

Bibliography [top]

	Coloma, L.A. and Lötters, S. 1996. The tadpole of Atelopus balios (Anura: Bufonidae) from the Pacific lowlands of Ecuador. Herpetologica: 66-70. IUCN. 2004. 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 23 November 2004. La Marca, E., Lips, K.R., Lötters, S., Puschendorf, R., Ibáñez, R., Rueda-Almonacid, J.V., Schulte, R., Marty, C., Castro, F., Manzanilla-Puppo, J., Garcia-Perez, J.E., Toral, E., Bolaños, F., Chaves, G., Pounds, J.A. and Young, B. 2005. Catastrophic population declines and extinctions in Neotropical harlequin frogs (Bufonidae: Atelopus). Biotropica: 190-201. Lötters, S. 1996. The Neotropical Toad Genus Atelopus. Checklist - Biology - Distribution. Vences, M. and Glaw, F. Verlags GbR, Köln, Germany. Parker III, T.A. and Carr, J.L. 1992. Status of forest remnants in the Cordillera de la Costa and adjacent areas of southwestern Ecuador. RAP Working Papers: 1-172. Peters, J.A. 1973. The frog genus Atelopus in Ecuador (Anura: Bufonidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology: 1-49. Pounds, J.A., Bustamante, M.R., Coloma, L.A., Consuegra, J.A., Fogden, M.P.L., Foster, P.N., La Marca, E., Masters, K.L., Merino-Viteri, A., Puschendorf, R., Ron, S.R., Sánchez-Azofeifa, G.A., Still, C.J. and Young, B.E. 2006. Widespread amphibian extinctions from epidemic disease driven by global warming. Nature: 161-167.

Coloma, L.A. and Lötters, S. 1996. The tadpole of Atelopus balios (Anura: Bufonidae) from the Pacific lowlands of Ecuador. Herpetologica: 66-70.

IUCN. 2004. 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 23 November 2004.

La Marca, E., Lips, K.R., Lötters, S., Puschendorf, R., Ibáñez, R., Rueda-Almonacid, J.V., Schulte, R., Marty, C., Castro, F., Manzanilla-Puppo, J., Garcia-Perez, J.E., Toral, E., Bolaños, F., Chaves, G., Pounds, J.A. and Young, B. 2005. Catastrophic population declines and extinctions in Neotropical harlequin frogs (Bufonidae: Atelopus). Biotropica: 190-201.

Lötters, S. 1996. The Neotropical Toad Genus Atelopus. Checklist - Biology - Distribution. Vences, M. and Glaw, F. Verlags GbR, Köln, Germany.

Parker III, T.A. and Carr, J.L. 1992. Status of forest remnants in the Cordillera de la Costa and adjacent areas of southwestern Ecuador. RAP Working Papers: 1-172.

Peters, J.A. 1973. The frog genus Atelopus in Ecuador (Anura: Bufonidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology: 1-49.

Pounds, J.A., Bustamante, M.R., Coloma, L.A., Consuegra, J.A., Fogden, M.P.L., Foster, P.N., La Marca, E., Masters, K.L., Merino-Viteri, A., Puschendorf, R., Ron, S.R., Sánchez-Azofeifa, G.A., Still, C.J. and Young, B.E. 2006. Widespread amphibian extinctions from epidemic disease driven by global warming. Nature: 161-167.

Citation:	Diego Cisneros-Heredia, Mario Yánez-Muñoz, Luis A. Coloma, Santiago Ron 2004. Atelopus balios. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 20 May 2013.
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