Ecotasia's video: The Mysterious Extinction of the Golden Toad

In 1989, a herpetologist headed into the cloud forests of Montverde, Costa Rica, looking for a beautiful amphibian, the golden toad. Only one could be found, one of the last ever seen. What killed this animal? UVB-radiation? chytrid fungus? climate change? Find out what killed the Golden Toad. Thumbnail and Golden Toad image credits: Charles H. Smith, 28 January 2002, Bufo periglenes, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Sources Chornook, K., & Guindon, W. (2008). Walking with Wolf: reflections on a life spent protecting the Costa Rican wilderness. Hamilton, Ont.: Wandering Words Press. Savage, J., Pounds, J. & Bolaños, F. (2008). Incilius periglenes. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T3172A9654595.en Jay Savage (1965). "An extraordinary new toad from Costa Rica". Revista de Biología Tropical. 14: 153–167. Archived from the original on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2009-01-13. Blaustein, A. R., & Wake, D. B. (1995). The Puzzle of Declining Amphibian Populations. Scientific American, 272(4), 52–57. doi: 10.1038/scientificamerican0495-52 Neville, Jennifer J. (2003). "The Case of the Golden Toad: Weather Patterns Lead to Decline". North Ohio Association of Herpetologists. Archived from the original on October 10, 2004. Retrieved July 27, 2006. Pechmann, J. H. K., Scott, D. E., Semlitsch, R. D., Caldwell, J. P., Vitt, L. J., & Gibbons, J. W. (1991). Declining Amphibian Populations: The Problem of Separating Human Impacts from Natural Fluctuations. Science, 253(5022), 892–895. doi: 10.1126/science.253.5022.892 Hayes, T. B.; Collins, A.; Lee, M.; Mendoza, M.; Noriega, N.; Stuart, A. A.; Vonk, A. (2002). "Hermaphroditic demasculinized frogs after exposure to the herbicide atrazine at low ecologically relevant doses". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 99 (8): 5476–5480. Bibcode:2002PNAS...99.5476H. doi:10.1073/pnas.082121499. PMC 122794. PMID 11960004. Whittaker, Kellie; Vredenburg, Vance. "An Overview of Chytridiomycosis". Amphibiaweb. Retrieved 29 September 2016. "Panama Amphibian Conservation Timeline". Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project. Retrieved 2009-09-13. Lambert, Max R.; Womack, Molly C.; Byrne, Allison Q.; Hernández-Gómez, Obed; Noss, Clay F.; Rothstein, Andrew P.; Blackburn, David C.; Collins, James P.; Crump, Martha L.; Koo, Michelle S.; Nanjappa, Priya (2020-03-20). "Comment on "Amphibian fungal panzootic causes catastrophic and ongoing loss of biodiversity"". Science. 367 (6484). doi:10.1126/science.aay1838. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 32193293. Richards-Hrdlicka, K. L. (2013). "Preserved specimens of the extinct golden toad of Monteverde (Cranopsis periglenes) tested negative for the amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis)". Journal of Herpetology. 47 (3): 456–458. doi:10.1670/11-243. Pounds, Alan (12 January 2006). "Widespread Amphibian Extinctions from Epidemic Disease Driven by Global Warming". Nature. 439 (7073): 161–167. Bibcode:2006Natur.439..161A. doi:10.1038/nature04246. PMID 16407945. Weldon; du Preez; Hyatt; Muller; and Speare (2004). Origin of the Amphibian Chytrid Fungus. Emerging Infectious Diseases 10(12). Di Liberto, Tom (11 September 2014). "ENSO + Climate Change = Headache". ENSO Blog. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. "Boreal Toad." U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Home. 29 June 2011. Web. 12 Dec. 2011 Dayer, A. A. (2020). Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.resque1.01 If you like animals and nature Please Subscribe and Like This is Backyard Expeditions. Here you can find wildlife footage and short documentaries on the natural world. Nature is full of surprises, often amazing things are happening just feet from you door. I am a biology student who was inspired by the likes of the BBC natural history unit, PBS, and animal planet as a Child. I have also long been a hobbyist photographer, filming interesting things over time. My goal is to document interesting behavior and highlight interesting species I encounter both in exotic locations, and on backyard expeditions. also Check Out my Photography Adventure Blog https://johnjacksonphoto.blogspot.com/