Golden Toad and KK100

Golden Toad  : Extinct in 1989

KK100  : 442m, Shenzhen, China     

 

 

 

Golden Toad and KK100_76x57cm_watercolor on paper_2015

 

 

The golden toad indigenous to Costa Rica in Central America is the first animal to have died out due to global warming. The golden toad was an amphibian. Amphibians absorb oxygen and water through their skin and keep their body temperature about the same as that of the surrounding environment. Because all physiological functions are environmentally dependent, the golden toad is particularly sensitive to changes in its habitat and the climate. In 1988 eight male and two female golden toads were discovered in a cloud-shrouded tropical forest preservation area in Monteverde. One year later only one male toad was found alive, and no one has seen a golden toad since May 15, 1989. The golden toad was eventually added to the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) Red List in 2004. Little is known about the golden toad because it died out before proper ecological studies could be done on it.