The golden toad is an extinct toad species, the last sighting being 1989, that could only be found in a small region of Costa Rica called Monteverde. It’s habitat was a cloud forest which is an area with a high altitude with lots of moisture. Most of the frog's time was spent underground where it was moist and safe, but it would come above ground during mating season. Mating season was only a week in April. Like most other frogs and toads, this animal ate insects by going around on the forest floor.
This species of toad was last seen in 1989, which coincided with its habitat getting hotter and dryer, it’s presumed extinct. It was already a rare animal living in a very small area so climate change was enough to push it to extinction. El Nino, which is a warm current created by water in the pacific is thought to be what made the climate uninhabitable for the toads, since they required a cold and wet environment. It also affected how much rainfall the area got.
Another thing that made them go extinct was the chytrid fungus, which caused their skin to have sores and eventually would lead to infection and they would die. The toads were a bright golden and glowy color, as described by the scientists who had a chance to see them. The females were dark with yellow blotches all over them. They were only about 2 inches long and had a lifespan of an estimated 12 years. Scientists weren’t able to study this toad much before it became extinct but they were able to use it to draw attention to conservation of amphibians.
For wild Suzhou I'm palm tree and thank you for listening.