Golden Tree Frog (
Phytotriades auratus) from Trinidad. Photo by Rick Lehtinen. ||| The golden tree frog is found in Trinidad and Venezuela. It is a species restricted to mountain tops, and lives almost entirely in bromeliads on trees. This frog species is currently considered endangered by the
IUCN, and is threatened by climate change and habitat degradation. However, a recent publication by Lehtinen, Borowsky, Auguste, Kosowsky and Richards-Zawacki in Herpetological Review 54(1) 2023 reports that the deadly
chytrid fungal pathogen (Bd) was detected in individuals from El Tucuche in Trinidad. The chytrid fungus has been responsible for amphibian declines and extinctions across the world. This is a worrying find for the endnagered golden tree frog, and warrants urgent need for further monitoring and improved management on El Tucuche, but also on Cerro del Aripo where they are found on the island, as well as in Venezuela.
