Golden mantella (Mantella aurantiaca).
Image: Paul Albertella from Manchester, UK, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
At a glance
- IUCN category
- EN · Endangered
- Animal group
- Reptiles & Amphibians
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Checked against IUCN
- Matches source — IUCN's 2020 global assessment of Mantella aurantiaca says EndangeredChecked 2026-10-09 against IUCN's Red List export published 2026-07-28 · assessment
Conservation overview
The golden mantella is a tiny, brilliant orange frog found only in Madagascar. It is assessed as Endangered (IUCN, 2020).
Its bright colour warns of toxins in its skin, like the unrelated poison frogs of the Americas.
Range & habitat
A small area of central-eastern Madagascar.
Major threats
Threats below are drawn from the authoritative sources listed on this page. For the current, complete assessment, see the IUCN Red List.
- Loss of its specialised breeding wetlands
- Habitat degradation
- Past collection
Why it matters
A jewel-like amphibian with a tiny range, the golden mantella is a flagship for Madagascar's threatened wetlands and a focus of captive-breeding insurance programmes.
Sources
Sources for Golden Mantella
- IUCN Red List — look up Golden Mantella (authoritative status)
- AmphibiaWeb (UC Berkeley)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the golden mantella related to poison dart frogs?
No — it is a Madagascan frog, not a relative of the American poison frogs, but it has evolved similar bright warning colours and skin toxins (an example of convergence).
Why is the golden mantella Endangered?
Published assessments cite the loss and degradation of its specialised breeding wetlands within a very small range. See the IUCN Red List.