Panamanian Golden Frog

Don’t pick a fight with Panamanian golden frogs.

Panamanian golden frogs are a brightly coloured amphibian species native to Central America’s Panama.
‘Panamanian golden frogs’ are also known as ‘golden arrow poison frogs’, ‘Zetek’s golden frogs’ and ‘golden frogs’, and despite their common name, they are toads, not frogs.
The scientific name of the Panamanian golden frog is Atelopus zeteki and it is from the family Bufonidae, the family of true toads.
Panamanian golden frogs have a distinctive gold, yellow or yellow-green skin colouration that is generally spotted with black, though the young toads are green in colour.
The length of Panamanian golden frogs reach 3.5 to 6.3 centimetres (1.4 to 2.5 inches) and they are typically 3 to 15 grams (0.1 to 0.53 ounces) in weight.

The skin of adult Panamanian golden frogs is highly toxic on touch, excreting poisons deadly to rodents and other animals, and they are also potentially hazardous to humans.
The diet of Panamanian golden frogs consists of invertebrates like spiders, ants, caterpillars, wasps, and flies, and the wider the variety of its diet, the more poisonous the toad becomes.
Along with a noise that sounds like a whistle, Panamanian golden frogs commonly move their hands in a waving motion as a means of communication, signalling to both potential mates and threats.
Panamanian golden frogs typically live in mountainous river and stream habitats, and have a lifespan of approximately 12 years, growing from egg to tadpole to adult.
Due to fungal diseases and habitat destruction, Panamanian golden frogs are listed as critically endangered, although it is possible that in 2007, they became extinct in the wild.

Amazon: