''Atelopus glyphus'', the Pirri harlequin frog or Pirri Range stubfoot toad, is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae found in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

and Panama within the

Northwestern Andean montane forests The Northwestern Andean montane forests (NT0145) is an ecoregion on the Andes mountains in the west of Colombia and Ecuador. Both flora and fauna are highly diverse due to effect of ice ages when the warmer climate zones were separated and the cool ...

.Hogan, C. M. 2012
Northwestern Andean montane forests.
In: Saundry, P., Ed. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington, DC. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and rivers.

Morphology and behaviour

This species is terrestrial, and breeds in forest streams. The reproductive biology is not well-known, but other ''Atelopus'' species are known to attach their eggs to the undersides of rocks in swift-moving streams during dry seasons when the water level is low. The eggs are laid in strings, and the larvae develop as the wet season begins. All ''Atelopus'' tadpoles have large ventral suckers, allowing them to hang on to rocks even in torrents.

Conservation

The biggest threat to this and other, similar species is chytridiomycosis. The disease has affected many other species of ''Atelopus'', particularly those associated with montane streams. This toad lives in two protected areas in Panama and Colombia. This guarantees some suitable habitat, but does not protect it from the chytrid fungus. Atelopus glyphus tadpole

It is also threatened by habitat loss, urbanization, climate change, pesticides, and intensified agriculture, including grazing. ''Atelopus'' happens to be the most threatened

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

of amphibians, where 60 of the 85 described species are classified as critically endangered by the IUCN. In addition, at least 30 known species are extinct. Of the surviving species, and those on which enough data exist to evaluate population trends, 81% have population sizes reduced by at least half from historical levels. The higher-elevation species, those living at or above , have been hit the worst, with 75% having disappeared entirely.''Atelopus glyphus''.
AmphibiaWeb.

References

glyphus Amphibians of Colombia Amphibians of Panama Amphibians described in 1931 Taxa named by Emmett Reid Dunn Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Bufonidae-stub