Atelopus is a large genus of Bufonidae, commonly known as harlequin frogs or toads, from Central and South America, ranging as far north as Costa Rica and as far south as Bolivia. Atelopus species are small, generally brightly colored, and diurnal. Most species are associated with mid-to-high elevation streams.
This genus has been greatly affected by amphibian declines, with about 70% of species now considered endangered or extinct.[1] While threatened by habitat loss, pollution, and introduced species, the primary cause of these declines appears to be the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis.[2][3]
Almost 40% of the described species in the genus are considered possibly extinct; this is raised to 45% when data deficient species are added; this number may be even higher, given that the genus contains many undescribed species that could also be extinct, and many of the species considered critically endangered but extant may have gone extinct after the last surveys that detected them, or could go extinct in the future.[4] For example, there are 32 known Atelopus species (including half a dozen undescribed) in Ecuador. One of these is data deficient (its status is unclear), two are endangered and the remaining are critically endangered.[5] Almost half the Ecuador species have not been recorded in a decade or more and are likely extinct. In some species conservationists have established captive colonies as a safeguard.[5] However, of 80 species that had not been seen since the 1950s, 32 have been sighted in the 21st Century, albeit at dangerously low population numbers.[1] Among the Atelopus species that have been rediscovered decades after their last sighting have been A. arsyescue, A. mindoensis, A. bomolochos, A. ignescens, A. balios, A. longirostris, A. subornatus and A. varius. The mechanism whereby these species survived extinction remains to be discovered.[1]
New Atelopus species are discovered with some regularity, and many new species have been described in the last decade. Among others, a new subspecies, popularly dubbed the purple fluorescent frog, was discovered in 2007 by scientists Paul Ouboter and Jan Mol during a follow-up survey of the Nassau plateau in Suriname.[6] Leeanne Alonso from Conservation International, the organisation that led the expedition, said this frog may be threatened by illegal gold mining.[7] It was described as a new subspecies of Atelopus hoogmoedi (itself considered a subspecies of A. spumarius by some), named A. h. nassaui in 2012.[8] Two new species were also described in 2020: A. manauensis and A. moropukaqumir, both of which are highly threatened by the chytrid fungus and habitat destruction.[9][10] Another new species, A. frontizero, was described in 2021.[11]
Arthur's stubfoot toad Atelopus arthuri Peters, 1973 CR Rio Pescado stubfoot toad Atelopus balios Peters, 1973 CR 
Purple harlequin toad Atelopus barbotini Lescure, 1981 
Azuay stubfoot toad Atelopus bomolochos Peters, 1973 CR Boulenger's stubfoot toad Atelopus boulengeri Peracca, 1904 CR Rio Carauta stubfoot toad Atelopus carauta Ruiz-Carranza & Hernández-Camacho, 1978 DD Venezuelan yellow frog or La Carbonera stubfoot toad Atelopus carbonerensis Rivero, 1974 CR (possibly extinct) 
Guajira stubfoot toad Atelopus carrikeri Ruthven, 1916 EN 
Darien stubfoot toad or Toad Mountain harlequin frog Atelopus certus Barbour, 1923 CR 
Chiriqui harlequin frog †Atelopus chiriquiensis Shreve, 1936 EX Atelopus chirripoensis Savage and Bolaños, 2009 DD Chocó stubfoot toad Atelopus chocoensis Lötters, 1992 CR (possibly extinct) Atelopus chrysocorallus La Marca, 1996 CR 
Rio Faisanes stubfoot toad Atelopus coynei Miyata, 1980 CR .jpg)
Veragua stubfoot toad Atelopus cruciger (Lichtenstein & Martens, 1856) CR Atelopus dimorphus Lötters, 2003 DD Huila stubfoot toad Atelopus ebenoides Rivero, 1963 (possibly extinct) CR (possibly extinct) .jpg)
Elegant stubfoot toad Atelopus elegans (Boulenger, 1882) EN Atelopus epikeisthos Lötters, Schulte & Duellman, 2005 EN Carabaya stubfoot toad Atelopus erythropus Boulenger, 1903 CR (possibly extinct) Malvasa stubfoot toad Atelopus eusebianus Rivero & Granados-Díaz, 1993 CR (possibly extinct) Atelopus eusebiodiazi Venegas, Catenazzi, Siu-Ting & Carrillo, 2008 CR (possibly extinct) 
Atelopus exiguus Boettger, 1892 EN Atelopus famelicus Rivero & Morales, 1995 CR Forest stubfoot toad Atelopus farci Lynch, 1993 CR (possibly extinct) _(10672861725).jpg)
Cayenne stubfoot toad Atelopus flavescens Duméril & Bibron, 1841 VU _(10596338993).jpg)
Central Coast stubfoot toad Atelopus franciscus Lescure, 1974 LC Border harlequin frog Atelopus frontizero Veselý & Batista, 2021 Antado stubfoot toad Atelopus galactogaster Rivero & Serna, 1993 DD Atelopus gigas Coloma, Duellman, Almendáriz, Ron, Terán-Valdez, and Guayasamin, 2010 CR (possibly extinct) 
Pirri Range harlequin frog Atelopus glyphus Dunn, 1931 CR Guanujo stubfoot toad Atelopus guanujo Coloma, 2002 CR (possibly extinct) La Guitarra stubfoot toad Atelopus guitarraensis Osorno-Muñoz, Ardila-Robayo & Ruiz-Carranza, 2001 DD Morona-Santiago stubfoot toad Atelopus halihelos Peters, 1973 CR (possibly extinct) 
Hoogmoed harlequin toad Atelopus hoogmoedi Lescure, 1974 Quito stubfoot toad Atelopus ignescens (Cornalia, 1849) CR 
Atelopus laetissimus Ruiz-Carranza, Ardila-Robayo & Hernández-Camacho, 1994 EN .jpg)
Limosa harlequin frog Atelopus limosus Ibáñez, Jaramillo & Solís, 1995 CR Atelopus loettersi De la Riva, Castroviejo-Fisher, Chaparro, Boistel, and Padial, 2011 NT El Tambo stubfoot toad Atelopus longibrachius Rivero, 1963 EN 
Longnose stubfoot toad Atelopus longirostris Cope, 1868 EX , but has since been rediscovered Atelopus lozanoi Osorno-Muñoz, Ardila-Robayo & Ruiz-Carranza, 2001 (endangered) EN Lynch's stubfoot toad Atelopus lynchi Cannatella, 1981 CR (possibly extinct) Atelopus mandingues Osorno-Muñoz, Ardila-Robayo & Ruiz-Carranza, 2001 DD Manaus harlequin frog Atelopus manauensis Jorge, Ferrão & Lima, 2020 Atelopus marinkellei Cochran and Goin, 1970 EN Mindo stubfoot toad Atelopus mindoensis Peters, 1973 CR Colombian stubfoot toad Atelopus minutulus Ruiz-Carranza, Hernández-Camacho & Ardila-Robayo, 1988 CR (possibly extinct) Mittermeier's stubfoot toad Atelopus mittermeieri Acosta-Galvis, Rueda-Almonacid, Velásquez-Álvarez, Sánchez-Pacheco & Peña Prieto, 2006 EN Hernandez's stubfoot toad Atelopus monohernandezii Ardila-Robayo, Osorno-Muñoz & Ruiz-Carranza, 2002 CR (possibly extinct) Atelopus moropukaqumir Herrera-Alva, Díaz, Castillo, Rodolfo & Catenazzi, 2020 Mucubaji stubfoot toad Atelopus mucubajiensis Rivero, 1974 CR La Arboleda stubfoot toad Atelopus muisca Rueda-Almonacid & Hoyos, 1992 CR 
Atelopus nahumae Ruiz-Carranza, Ardila-Robayo & Hernández-Camacho, 1994 EN Atelopus nanay Coloma, 2002 CR Gualecenita stubfoot toad Atelopus nepiozomus Peters, 1973 EN Niceforo's stubfoot toad Atelopus nicefori Rivero, 1963 CR (possibly extinct) Nocturnal harlequin toad Atelopus nocturnus Bravo-Valencia and Rivera-Correa, 2011 CR Atelopus onorei Coloma, Lötters, Duellman & Miranda-Leiva, 2007 CR (possibly extinct) Atelopus orcesi Coloma, Duellman, Almendáriz, Ron, Terán-Valdez & Guayasamin, 2010 CR (possibly extinct) Atelopus oxapampae Lehr, Lötters, and Lundberg, 2008 EN Rednose stubfoot toad Atelopus oxyrhynchus Boulenger, 1903 CR (possibly extinct) Schmidt's stubfoot toad Atelopus pachydermus (Schmidt, 1857) CR (possibly extinct) 
Andersson's stubfoot toad Atelopus palmatus Andersson, 1945 CR Andersson's stubfoot toad Atelopus pastuso Andersson, 1945 CR (possibly extinct) Pataz stubfoot toad Atelopus patazensis Venegas, Catenazzi, Siu-Ting & Carrillo, 2008 CR San Isidro stubfoot toad Atelopus pedimarmoratus Rivero, 1963 CR (possibly extinct) Peru stubfoot toad Atelopus peruensis Gray & Cannatella, 1985 CR (possibly extinct) 
Peters' stubfoot toad Atelopus petersi Coloma, Lötters, Duellman & Miranda-Leiva, 2007 CR (possibly extinct) Atelopus petriruizi Ardila-Robayo, 1999 CR (possibly extinct) Painted stubfoot toad Atelopus pictiventris Kattan, 1986 CR (possibly extinct) Pinango stubfoot toad Atelopus pinangoi Rivero, 1982 CR (possibly extinct) Napo stubfoot toad Atelopus planispina Jiménez de la Espada, 1875 CR (possibly extinct) Podocarpus stubfoot toad Atelopus podocarpus Coloma, Duellman, Almendáriz, Ron, Terán-Valdez, and Guayasamin, 2010 CR 
Atelopus pulcher Boulenger, 1882 VU Atelopus pyrodactylus Venegas & Barrio, 2006 CR Atelopus quimbaya Ruiz-Carranza & Osorno-Muñoz, 1994 CR (possibly extinct) Atelopus reticulatus Lötters, Haas, Schick & Böhme, 2002 DD Anori stubfoot toad Atelopus sanjosei Rivero & Serna, 1989 CR Upper Amazon stubfoot toad Atelopus seminiferus Cope, 1874 EN Pass stubfoot toad †Atelopus senex Taylor, 1952 EX Atelopus sernai Ruiz-Carranza & Osorno-Muñoz, 1994 CR (possibly extinct) Atelopus simulatus Ruiz-Carranza & Osorno-Muñoz, 1994 CR (possibly extinct) Atelopus siranus Lötters &Henzl, 2000 DD Sonsón stubfoot toad Atelopus sonsonensis Vélez-Rodriguez & Ruiz-Carranza, 1997 CR (possibly extinct) Cloud forest stubfoot toad Atelopus sorianoi La Marca, 1983 CR (possibly extinct) 
Pebas stubfoot toad Atelopus spumarius Cope, 1871 VU 
Condoto stubfoot toad Atelopus spurrelli Boulenger, 1914 NT Bogota stubfoot toad Atelopus subornatus Werner, 1899 CR Venezuela stubfoot toad Atelopus tamaensis La Marca, García-Pérez & Renjifo, 1990 CR Three-colored stubfoot toad Atelopus tricolor Boulenger, 1902 CR 
Veragoa stubfoot toad Atelopus varius (Lichtenstein & Martens, 1856) CR Maracay harlequin frog †Atelopus vogli Müller, 1934 EX Walker's stubfoot toad Atelopus walkeri Rivero, 1963 DD 
Panamanian golden frog Atelopus zeteki Dunn, 1933 CR (possibly extinct in the wild) 
Atelopus is a large genus of Bufonidae, commonly known as harlequin frogs or toads, from Central and South America, ranging as far north as Costa Rica and as far south as Bolivia. Atelopus species are small, generally brightly colored, and diurnal. Most species are associated with mid-to-high elevation streams.
This genus has been greatly affected by amphibian declines, with about 70% of species now considered endangered or extinct. While threatened by habitat loss, pollution, and introduced species, the primary cause of these declines appears to be the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis.
Almost 40% of the described species in the genus are considered possibly extinct; this is raised to 45% when data deficient species are added; this number may be even higher, given that the genus contains many undescribed species that could also be extinct, and many of the species considered critically endangered but extant may have gone extinct after the last surveys that detected them, or could go extinct in the future. For example, there are 32 known Atelopus species (including half a dozen undescribed) in Ecuador. One of these is data deficient (its status is unclear), two are endangered and the remaining are critically endangered. Almost half the Ecuador species have not been recorded in a decade or more and are likely extinct. In some species conservationists have established captive colonies as a safeguard. However, of 80 species that had not been seen since the 1950s, 32 have been sighted in the 21st Century, albeit at dangerously low population numbers. Among the Atelopus species that have been rediscovered decades after their last sighting have been A. arsyescue, A. mindoensis, A. bomolochos, A. ignescens, A. balios, A. longirostris, A. subornatus and A. varius. The mechanism whereby these species survived extinction remains to be discovered.
New Atelopus species are discovered with some regularity, and many new species have been described in the last decade. Among others, a new subspecies, popularly dubbed the purple fluorescent frog, was discovered in 2007 by scientists Paul Ouboter and Jan Mol during a follow-up survey of the Nassau plateau in Suriname. Leeanne Alonso from Conservation International, the organisation that led the expedition, said this frog may be threatened by illegal gold mining. It was described as a new subspecies of Atelopus hoogmoedi (itself considered a subspecies of A. spumarius by some), named A. h. nassaui in 2012. Two new species were also described in 2020: A. manauensis and A. moropukaqumir, both of which are highly threatened by the chytrid fungus and habitat destruction. Another new species, A. frontizero, was described in 2021.
