Ultra-rare toad bred in captivity for the first time

[FfFfFfFF 43,237]

One of the world’s rarest toads has been bred in captivity for the first time, thanks to the scientists at Manchester Museum.

The critically endangered variable harlequin toad, Atelopus varius, lives deep in the central American rainforests of Panama and Costa Rica, breeding only in turbulent streams filled with stones and boulders on which they lay their eggs.

Scientists at the University of Manchester went to Santa Fe national park in Panama and recorded the conditions of the amphibians’ native habitat. They used the data to re-create the temperatures, water levels and water flow in captivity. Special lighting meant that a certain tropical alga, which the tadpoles feed on using specialised sucker-like mouthparts, could thrive.

The breeding programme is the result of three years of work, after six of the vibrant yellow and black toads were brought from Panama in 2018.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/07/one-of-worlds-rarest-toads-bred-in-captivity-for-first-time-in-manchester

 

[MotherOfPuppies 5,271]

Looks venomous.

[Judas Oyster 1,647]

Beautiful nature

Should be a pokemon

[Alannah 1,157]

[PunkTheFunk 110,296]

Just say frog sex