Golden mantella frog

Scientific name: Mantella aurantiaca Golden Mantella frog

Country: Madagascar

Continent: Africa

Diet: termites, ants, and fruit flies.

Food and Feeding: Omnivore

Habitats: Tropical rainforest, freshwater

Conservation status: Critically endangered

Relatives: Wallaces' flying frog, poison dart frogs

Description: About 2.5 cm long, these frogs are a brilliant golden-orange colour with black eyes. They occasionally have red flash marks on the inner portion of the hind legs. The brilliant colors exhibited by the golden mantella are as a result of 'aposematic coloration'. This means that they display the bright colours usually associated with toxic species to ward off predators. Their legs are very short with distinct adhesive disks found on the fingers and toes. Males are generally smaller, slimmer and more angular in build than females.

Lifestyle: Golden Mantellas are found in the forests of Madagascar at an altitude of about 900 metres. They are active during the day and usually live in mossy mounds close to shallow swampy waters.  They live in small groups,called 'armies', which usually contain twice as many male as females. The male golden mantella does not call as much as other species of mantella. This may be because it doesn't want to attract attention from predators or alternatively, because it is conserving energy.

Growing up: Mantellas mate at the start of the rainy season when there is lots of food about. Eggs are then layed on damp moss, underneath damp moss, underneath damp bark and in rock crevices, but always close to water. Once the eggs are laid, parent golden mantellas have nothing more to do with them

Keeping in touch: Males call to attract female mates by clicking.

Family and friends: They live in groups with twice as many males as females.

Conservation news:The golden mantella is restricted to a fragment of forest surrounded by degraded land, and the remaining forest is under threat from subsistence agriculture, timber extraction, fires and expanding human settlements. Limits on the exportation of these animals have been imposed and the trade has been greatly reduced as a result.