Remembering jay m. Savage: the scientist who first sounded the alarm on global amphibian disappearances

In the late 1980s, something alarming began happening in the world’s most protected places. Cloud forests that had been shielded from chainsaws and development were suddenly losing species that had survived for millennia. Amphibians—frogs, toads, and salamanders that had thrived in these pristine environments—were mysteriously vanishing on a global scale.

Among the first scientists to recognize this disturbing pattern was Jay Mathers Savage, a University of Miami biology professor who spent decades studying Central American wildlife. “A bunch of us got together and started comparing notes,” Savage told the New York Times in 1992. “People were struck by the fact it seemed to be occurring on a worldwide basis.” His observation helped launch what would become a critical field of conservation biology focused on amphibian decline.

Savage’s expertise came from years of methodical fieldwork in Central America’s rainforests, where he documented countless species through careful specimen collection and repeated field studies. One of his most famous discoveries became a tragic symbol of the amphibian crisis: the golden toad of Costa Rica’s Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. Discovered by Savage and a colleague in 1964, this spectacular Day-Glo orange toad (Bufo periglenes) lived most of its life underground, emerging only for brief, explosive breeding seasons.

The golden toad’s story exemplifies the broader amphibian crisis that Savage helped bring to scientific attention—a phenomenon that continues to threaten these vital ecosystem indicators worldwide.