| Dendrobatinae | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Dyeing dart frog, Dendrobates tinctorius. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Family: | Dendrobatidae |
| Subfamily: | Dendrobatinae Cope, 1865 |
| Genera | |
Adelphobates Contents | |
Dendrobatinae is the main subfamily of frogs in the family Dendrobatidae, the poison dart frogs of Central and South America, found from Nicaragua to the Amazon basin in Brazil. [1]
Dendrobatinae are generally small frogs; Andinobates minutus is as small as 13–16 mm (0.51–0.63 in) in snout–vent length. Many species are brightly colored and all are toxic. Alkaloids in Phyllobates are particularly potent. [2] [3]
All species are presumed to show parental care, often by the male. However, some species show biparental care ( Ranitomeya ), whereas in Oophaga only females care for the tadpoles, feeding them with eggs, their only source of nutrition. [2] The males are responsible for protecting the eggs from predation and keeping the eggs from drying out by urinating on them. [4]
There are eight [1] [2] or seven [3] genera in this subfamily:
| Image | Genus | Living species |
|---|---|---|
 | Adelphobates Grant, Frost, Caldwell, Gagliardo, Haddad, Kok, Means, Noonan, Schargel, and Wheeler, 2006 |
|
 | Andinobates Twomey, Brown, Amézquita, and Mejía-Vargas, 2011 |
|
 | Dendrobates Wagler, 1830 |
|
 | Excidobates Twomey and Brown, 2008 |
|
| Minyobates Myers, 1987 |
| |
 | Oophaga Bauer, 1994 |
|
 | Phyllobates Duméril and Bibron, 1841 | P. lugubris species group
P. bicolor species group
|
 | Ranitomeya Bauer, 1986 |
|
The most specious genera are Ranitomeya (16 species) and Andinobates (13 species). [1] Dendrobates used to be much larger but currently contains only five species, having had most of its species split off into genera erected later. [6]
Poison dart frog is the common name of a group of frogs in the family Dendrobatidae which are native to tropical Central and South America. These species are diurnal and often have brightly colored bodies. This bright coloration is correlated with the toxicity of the species, making them aposematic. Some species of the family Dendrobatidae exhibit extremely bright coloration along with high toxicity, while others have cryptic coloration with minimal to no amount of observed toxicity. The species that have great toxicity derive this feature from their diet of ants, mites and termites. However, other species that exhibit cryptic coloration, and low to no amounts of toxicity, eat a much larger variety of prey. Many species of this family are threatened due to human infrastructure encroaching on their habitats.
The strawberry poison frog, strawberry poison-dart frog or blue jeans poison frog is a species of small poison dart frog found in Central America. It is common throughout its range, which extends from eastern central Nicaragua through Costa Rica and northwestern Panama. The species is often found in humid lowlands and premontane forest, but large populations are also found in disturbed areas such as plantations. The strawberry poison frog is perhaps most famous for its widespread variation in coloration, comprising approximately 15–30 color morphs, most of which are presumed to be true-breeding. O. pumilio, while not the most poisonous of the dendrobatids, is the most toxic member of its genus.
Dendrobates is a genus of poison dart frogs native to Central and South America. It once contained numerous species, but most originally placed in this genus have been split off into other genera such as Adelphobates, Ameerega, Andinobates, Epipedobates, Excidobates, Oophaga, Phyllobates and Ranitomeya, leaving only five large to medium-sized species in the genus Dendrobates. All the other genera used to be grouped in with Dendrobates because it was previously thought that all brightly colored poison dart frogs came from the same ancestor but this has since been proven to be incorrect. Dendrobates and Phyllobates evolved conspicuous coloration from the same common ancestor but not the same as any of the other genera listed above.
Epipedobates is a genus of poison dart frogs native to northern South America west of the Andes, including the western slopes. Common name phantasmal poison frogs has been suggested for the genus.
Ranitomeya imitator, is a species of poison dart frog found in the north-central region of eastern Peru. Its common names include mimic poison frog and poison arrow frog, and it is one of the best known dart frogs. It was discovered in the late 1980s by Rainer Schulte who later split it up into more subspecies; describing each as a specific color morph, and sometimes having a separate behavioral pattern. The acoustics, morphs, and behavior of the species have been extensively researched.
The Aromobatidae are a family of frogs native to Central and South America. They are sometimes referred to as cryptic forest frogs or cryptic poison frogs. They are the sister taxon of the Dendrobatidae, the poison dart frogs, but are not as toxic as most dendrobatids are.
The Brazil-nut poison frog is a species of frog in the family Dendrobatidae. It is endemic to the state of Pará in Brazil. The frog is believed to have received its common name from the fact that its tadpoles sometimes develop in the hard capsules of the Brazil nut tree, which are common in its range. The nuts fall to the forest floor where they are broken open by agoutis and other animals seeking the seeds, and empty husks fill with water.
The blue-bellied poison frog or bluebelly poison frog is a species of frog in the family Dendrobatidae.
Ranitomeya vanzolinii, also known as the Brazilian poison frog or spotted poison frog, is a species of frog from the family Dendrobatidae. It is found in the Amazonian rainforests of Brazil and Peru, and possibly Bolivia.
Andinobates virolinensis is a species of frog in the family Dendrobatidae. It is endemic to Colombia where it is confined to the Santander and Cundinamarca departments on the Cordillera Oriental.
Hyloxalus is a genus of poison dart frogs, family Dendrobatidae. The genus is distributed in Central and South America, from Panama south to Peru, along with Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. They also inhabit the eastern foothills of the Andes in Bolivia to Venezuela, east to the upper Amazon Basin.
Oophaga is a genus of poison-dart frogs containing twelve species, many of which were formerly placed in the genus Dendrobates. The frogs are distributed in Central and South America, from Nicaragua through the Colombian El Choco to northern Ecuador. Their habitats vary with some species being arboreal while other being terrestrial, but the common feature is that their tadpoles are obligate egg feeders.
Silverstoneia is a genus of poison dart frogs from southern Central America and northern South America, between southwestern Costa Rica and southwestern Colombia. It is named in honour of Phillip A. Silverstone, an expert on dendrobatoid frogs.
Adelphobates is a small genus of poison dart frogs. They are found in the central and lower Amazon basin of Peru and Brazil, possibly Bolivia. It was originally erected as a sister group to the Dendrobates and Oophaga genera. The validity of the genus is still being discussed, with the alternative being "Dendrobates galactonotus group" within Dendrobates. One species originally placed in this genus as Adelphobates captivus has since been moved to the genus Excidobates erected in 2008.
Ranitomeya is a genus of dart poison frogs found in Panama and South America south to Peru and Brazil, possibly into Bolivia.
Ranitomeya amazonica is a poison dart frog in the genus Ranitomeya. It was first described by Rainer Schulte in 1999 as Dendrobates amazonicus when he separated it from Dendrobates ventrimaculatus, primarily on the basis of call characteristics. The validity of the species has been debated, but further studies, also including genetic data, support its validity.
The Rockstone poison dart frog is a poorly known species of dendrobatid frogs endemic to Guyana. As it is known from only one specimen, very little information is currently available on D. nubeculosus. It has been suggested to be one of the most poorly known species in the world.
Andinobates is a genus of poison dart frogs from Ecuador, Colombia and Panama. It contains species formerly classified in the genus Dendrobates and in 2006 transferred to the genus Ranitomeya. In 2011 Twomey, Brown, and their colleagues erected the genus Andinobates for a group of 12 species of Ranitomeya. Andinobates frogs can be distinguished from their sister taxon Ranitomeya anatomically in that their 2nd and 3rd vertebrae are fused. They show no limb reticulation, which is present in most species of Ranitomeya.
Excidobates is a genus of poison dart frogs endemic to the Marañón River drainage in Peru and Ecuador, South America. At one time members of this genus were classified as Dendrobates. A characteristic of this genus is the presence of pale, ovoid spots on the under surface of the thighs.
The Leiuperinae are a subfamily of frogs in the family Leptodactylidae. Over 90 species are in five genera. The distribution of this subfamily is from southern Mexico to the Central America and much of South America.