A Golden-toed Toad

A toad in the Eleocharis.

Wayne found this toad in some weedy vegetation at the edge of a drainage pond in the small village of Tiahuanaco. The plants in which the toad was hiding appear to be an Eleocharis species, but I'm saving that topic for later. This little guy had some friends with him too. We found several more individuals of this species scurrying around under the pond weeds. Based on their size and abundance, my guess is that they are recently hatched young.

Golden toes.

Except for those bright golden toes, these toads are relatively drab little critters. Perhaps the golden toes are an adaptation to scare off potential predators? If so, they certaintly aren't broadcasting a very powerful signal. Those little golden toes are nowhere near as shocking as the bright colors of the poison frogs of the lowland rainforests, although I these little toads are probably also very toxic. Living in the cold altiplano probably requires these toads to have much slower metabolisms than their lowland relatives. Maybe manufacturing such bright colors in such a harsh climate just has too great a metabolic cost.