Taxonomic notes: We follow Coloma (2002) in considering Atelopus leoperezii as a synonym of this species.

This species is known from the páramos of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, in the department of Magdalena, Colombia. It has been recorded between 2,350 and 4,800m asl.

It occurs in sub-Andean and Andean forests, and páramo, and also the lower portion of snowy areas. It can adapt to some modification of its habitat. It lays egg chains in streams, where the tadpoles also develop.

Although common in the past, the species had not been seen since 1994, due to a lack of surveys in the area. It was recently rediscovered (many tadpoles and six adult males) in early February 2008, in La Serrania de Cebolleta. Two of the six adults were reported ill (Rueda Solano 2008).

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The most serious threat to this species is the risk of chytridiomycosis, which has had a devastating impact on other high-altitude Atelopus species. Climate change, habitat loss caused by agriculture, and crop fumigation, are all also major threats.

• 9.3.3 Herbicides and pesticides
• 11.1 Habitat shifting & alteration
• 9.3.4 Type Unknown/Unrecorded
• 8.1.2 Named species
• 2.1.2 Small-holder farming
• 11.5 Other impacts

Its range includes Parque Nacional Natural Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Surveys to determine the current population status of this species are currently underway (L.A. Rueda Solano pers. comm. 2008). A captive-breeding programme might need to be established.

• 3.4.1 Captive breeding/artificial propagation

Listed as Critically Endangered because of a projected population decline, estimated to be more than 80% over the next ten years, inferred from declines in other high altitude Atelopus species in the same region, probably due to chytridiomycosis.

• Acosta-Galvis, A.R. 2000. Ranas, Salamandras y Caecilias (Tetrapoda: Amphibia) de Colombia. Biota Colombiana: 289-319.
• Ardila-Robayo, M.C. and Acosta-Galvis, A. 2000. Anfibios. In: Rangel (ed.), Colombia Diversidad Biótica II La región de vida paramuna, pp. 903. Universidad Nacional de Colombia Facultad de Ciencias Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Bogotá, Colombia.
• Coloma, L.A. 2002. Two species of Atelopus (Anura: Bufonidae) from Ecuador. Herpetologica.
• La Marca, E., Lips, K.R., Lötters, S., Puschendorf, R., Ibáñez, R., Rueda-Almonacid, J.V., Schulte, R., Marty, C., Castro, F., Manzanilla-Puppo, J., Garcia-Perez, J.E., Toral, E., Bolaños, F., Chaves, G., Pounds, J.A. and Young, B. 2005. Catastrophic population declines and extinctions in Neotropical harlequin frogs (Bufonidae: Atelopus). Biotropica: 190-201.
• Lötters, S. 1996. The Neotropical Toad Genus Atelopus. Checklist - Biology - Distribution. Vences, M. and Glaw, F. Verlags GbR, Köln, Germany.
• Pounds, J.A., Bustamante, M.R., Coloma, L.A., Consuegra, J.A., Fogden, M.P.L., Foster, P.N., La Marca, E., Masters, K.L., Merino-Viteri, A., Puschendorf, R., Ron, S.R., Sánchez-Azofeifa, G.A., Still, C.J. and Young, B.E. 2006. Widespread amphibian extinctions from epidemic disease driven by global warming. Nature 439: 161-167.
• Rueda-Almonacid, J.V. 1994. Una nueva especie de Atelopus A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron 1841 (Amphibia: Anura: Bufonidae) para la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. Trianea (Acta Científica y Tecnológica INDERENA): 101-108.
• Rueda Solano, L.A. 2008. Colorful Harlequin Frog re-discovered in Colombia.
• Ruiz-Carranza, P.M., Ardila-Robayo, M.C. and Hernández-Camacho, J.A. 1994. Tres nuevas especies de Atelopus (Amphibia: Bufonidae) de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales: 153-163.
• Ruiz-Carranza, P.M., Ardila-Robayo, M.C. and Lynch, J.D. 1996. Lista actualizada de la fauna de Amphibia de Colombia. Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales 20(77): 365-415.