[5] Panamanian golden frogs inhabit the streams along the mountainous slopes of the Cordilleran cloud forests of west-central Panama.

[11] The skin colour ranges from light yellow-green to bright gold, with some individuals exhibiting black spots on their backs and legs.

[12] The Panamanian golden frog has a variety of toxins, including steroidal bufadienolides and guanidinium alkaloids of the tetrodotoxin class.

One of the latter, zetekitoxin AB, has been found to be a blocker of voltage-dependent sodium channels several orders of magnitude more potent than its analog saxitoxin.

Death is preceded by clonic (grand mal) convulsions until the functions of the circulatory and respiratory systems cease.

[1] Vital habitat is lost each year to small farms, commercialized agriculture, woodlot operations, livestock range, industrial expansion, and real estate development.

[12] This toad is unusual in that it communicates by a form of semaphore, waving at rivals and prospective mates, in addition to the sounds more usual among frogs.

This adaptation is thought to have evolved in the Panamanian golden frog because of the noise of the fast-moving streams which formed its natural habitat.

[citation needed] Amplexus can last from a few days to a few months, with oviposition usually taking place in a shallow stream.

Their mouths are large and ventral surrounded by labia which form an unbroken oral disc about 3.6 mm wide.

They develop this black and gold coloration as melanin floods their dermal layers, giving the larvae protection from the sun.

[17] At the onset of heavy and consistent rains, the juveniles flee from the open streamsides, which are normally where the grown adult males, which are very territorial, are known to roam.

[6] The Panamanian golden frog appears to socialize with other amphibians using sounds from the throat and hand-waving, like the semaphore motion used in courtship.

Due to the very small size of the Panamanian golden frog, it is difficult to imagine another system of hearing that does not involve an eardrum apparatus.

[18] Its toxicity is not a foolproof method of protection, since some animals, such as the colubrid snake Liophis epinephalus, are able to metabolize the frogs' poison.

[17] The Panamanian golden frog began vanishing from its high mountain forests in the late 1990s, prompting a scientific investigation and rescue process that continues today.

[19] It was filmed for the last time in the wild in 2006 by the BBC Natural History Unit for the series Life in Cold Blood by David Attenborough.

The San Diego zoo also sends money to Panama to keep up the conservation effort in the frogs' native country.

[12] Populations of amphibians, including the Panamanian golden frog, suffered major declines possibly due to the fungal infection chytridiomycosis.

The infection is caused by an invasive fungal pathogen that reached El Valle, the home of the Panamanian golden frog, in 2006.

In 2005, the Houston Zoo established the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center (EVACC) in Panama, so the endangered frogs could have protected facilities in their native country.

In order to continue collection efforts, a partnership was formed with the Hotel Campestre in El Valle whereby rooms 28 and 29 of the resort were loaded with terrariums as a stop-gap measure.

Species richness, phylogenetic diversity, and community structure of the skin microbiota were found to be significantly different between wild and captive Panamanian golden frogs.

It seemed to be a protective treatment at the early stage, but the frogs began to die after two weeks as the Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is the causative agent of chytridiomycosis.

[10] The Panamanian golden frog is something of a national symbol, appearing on state lottery tickets and in local mythology.

[32] The highly toxic skin of the frog has also been used for centuries by the native people of the Panamanian forests for arrow poison.