Colourful Brazilian anurans are preferentially targeted by wildlife trade

The global wildlife trade is a multi-billion-dollar industry, that when poorly managed, can threaten all major terrestrial taxa. Amphibians are currently the most threatened terrestrial vertebrate taxa, due in part to exploitation. Humans place a high value on the aesthetics of nature, with distinctive morphology often a key driver of wildlife trade. Here, we explore the association of colour on the trade of anuran species traded as both pets (traded alive) and products (traded dead) in Brazil, a hotspot of anuran diversity. We collected colour data on all 64 traded Brazilian anurans plus an additional 216 control species not in trade. Our results highlighted more vibrant colours in traded than non-traded species and that the probability of trade increases with the number of colours present. The presence of blue had the strongest effect on trade probability, followed by orange, black, then yellow, with the remaining colours having no effect on the likelihood of trade. Anurans displaying rarer colours are more likely to be traded and more colours increase the likelihood of trade for pets but not for products. Our results provide crucial evidence that colour diversity in amphibians influences the risk of trade and adds to the growing weight of evidence that colour is a key correlate of trade. This points to the need to focus monitoring and protection efforts on colourful species that are at-risk from unsustainable exploitation.