Ranitomeya

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Ranitomeya
Ventri.jpg
R. ventrimaculata
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Dendrobatidae
Subfamily: Dendrobatinae
Genus: Ranitomeya
Bauer, 1986
Diversity
16 species (see text)

Ranitomeya is a genus of dart poison frogs found in Panama and South America south to Peru and Brazil, possibly into Bolivia. [1]

Contents

Taxonomy

In 2006 Grant et al. revised the systematics of poison dart frogs and placed many species formerly classified in the genera Dendrobates , Minyobates and Phyllobates in Ranitomeya. [2] In 2011 Brown and colleagues, following other scientists who assumed the existence of two distinct clades in Ranitomeya, erected the genus Andinobates for 12 species of Ranitomeya. [3]

Ranitomeya and Andinobates frogs can be distinguished from those in genera such as Dendrobates in that they are generally smaller, have more than two colors, and seem to glitter if viewed from certain angles. Ranitomeya is widespread in the Amazon basin, whereas Andinobates species are found only in the northern Andes down to Central America.

Description

Adults measure no more than 21 mm (0.83 in) in snout–vent length and are typically brightly colored, often with bright yellow, red, or green dorsum that can be uniform in color or with stripes or dots. Also the throat has distinctive color, usually yellow, orange or red. Dorsal skin is smooth or weakly granular. The head is narrower than the body. Fingers and toes bear discs, with those on the fingers being large. [3] Some species, such as R. Variabilis, in the genus exhibit tadpoles transport and cannibalistic behavior. [4]

Threats

Many Ranitomeya species are threatened by habitat loss and collection for the pet trade. [5] [6] [7]

Species

There are currently 16 accepted species in the genus Ranitomeya: [1] [8]

ImageScientific nameDistribution
Ranitomeya amazonica.jpg Ranitomeya amazonica (Schulte, 1999)northeastern Amazonian Peru (Loreto Region, including the type locality) and extreme southeastern Colombia (Amazonas Department), and expected in the adjacent Brazil, Venezuela; extreme southern Guyana; eastern French Guiana; the mouth of the Amazon in Brazil
Ranitomeya benedicta 2.jpg Ranitomeya benedicta Brown, Twomey, Pepper, and Sanchez-Rodriguez, 2008
Ranitomeya cyanovittata Pérez-Peña, Chávez, Twomey, and Brown, 2010Pampas del Sacramento in southern Loreto and eastern San Martín Region, northeastern Peru
Ranitomeya defleri Twomey and Brown, 2009southeastern Colombia
Ranitomeya fantastica.png Ranitomeya fantastica (Boulenger, 1884)eastern Sierra del Divisor, Loreto, Peru
Ranitomeya flavovittata (Schulte, 1999)northern San Martín and Loreto Regions, Peru
R. imitator Varadero.jpg Ranitomeya imitator (Schulte, 1986)Loreto Region, Peru
Ranitomeya reticulata.jpg Ranitomeya reticulata (Boulenger, 1884)eastern Peru.
Ranitomeya lamasi.jpg Ranitomeya sirensis (Aichinger, 1991)Amazon rainforest in Peru and Ecuador.
Ranitomeya summersi (13503318514) (cropped).jpg Ranitomeya summersi Brown, Twomey, Pepper, and Sanchez-Rodriguez, 2008central Huallaga River drainage and adjacent Cordillera Azul National Park in central Peru
Ranitomeya toraro Brown, Caldwell, Twomey, Melo-Sampaio, and Souza, 2011western Brazil in the states of Acre and Amazonas, and in the north of Rondônia state
Ranitomeya uakarii.jpg Ranitomeya uakarii (Brown, Schulte, and Summers, 2006)southern Peru (Madre de Dios), central Peru (Pachitea drainage), western Brazil (near Porto Walter), along the upper Amazon (in Peru and Colombia), and as far west as central Guyana.
Ranitomeya Vanzolinii.jpg Ranitomeya vanzolinii (Myers, 1982)Amazonian rainforests of Brazil and Peru
Ranitomeya variabilis (10.5852-ejt.2022.836.1919) Figure 7 (cropped).png Ranitomeya variabilis (Zimmermann and Zimmermann, 1988)Huallaga River drainage of San Martín Region, Peru
Rmventrimaculata.jpg Ranitomeya ventrimaculata (Shreve, 1935)Brazil, southeastern Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, and Peru.
Ranitomeya yavaricola Pérez-Peña, Chávez, Twomey, and Brown, 2010Rio Yavari-Mirin, Loreto, Peru

Dendrobates rubrocephalus Schulte, 1999 is placed here Incertae Sedis . [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poison dart frog</span> Family of amphibians

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 — a feature derived from their diet of ants, mites and termites— while species which eat a much larger variety of prey have cryptic coloration with minimal to no amount of observed toxicity. Many species of this family are threatened due to human infrastructure encroaching on their habitats.

<i>Dendrobates</i> Genus of amphibians

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mimic poison frog</span> Species of amphibian

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aromobatidae</span> Family of amphibians

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.

Ranitomeya flavovittata is a species of frog in the family Dendrobatidae. It is endemic to Peru and known with certainty only from the Loreto Region where its type locality is.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue-bellied poison frog</span> Species of amphibian

The blue-bellied poison frog or bluebelly poison frog is a species of frog in the family Dendrobatidae.

Ranitomeya rubrocephala is a species of frog of doubtful taxonomic status in the family Dendrobatidae.

<i>Ranitomeya vanzolinii</i> Species of frog

Ranitomeya vanzolinii, also known as the Brazilian poison frog or spotted poison frog, is a species of frog in the Ranitomeya genus, from the poison dart frog family, Dendrobatidae. It is found in the Amazonian rainforests of Brazil and Perú, and possibly Bolivia.

<i>Andinobates virolinensis</i> Species of amphibian

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.

<i>Oophaga</i> Genus of amphibians

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 south through the El Chocó 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. Most species in this genus are seriously threatened and O. speciosa is already extinct.

<i>Ameerega</i> Genus of amphibians

Ameerega is a genus of poison dart frogs in the family Dendrobatidae. These frogs live around rocks that are nearby streams. They are found in central South America north to Panama. It contains many former species of the genus Epipedobates.

<i>Adelphobates</i> Genus of amphibians

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.

<i>Ranitomeya amazonica</i> Species of amphibian

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zimmerman's poison frog</span> Species of amphibian

Ranitomeya variabilis, formerly known as Dendrodates variabilis, is a species of small poison dart frog distributed in northern Peru, along the eastern slope of Andes in the upper Rio Huallaga drainage basin. Its common name, Zimmerman's poison frog, is named after Elke Zimmermann, a German zoologist who described the morph of this species and differentiated it from D. ventrimaculatus. The species was formerly considered to be synonymous with Ranitomeya ventrimaculata.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dendrobatinae</span> Subfamily of amphibians

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.

<i>Andinobates</i> Genus of amphibians

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.

<i>Ranitomeya summersi</i> Species of amphibian

Ranitomeya summersi, sometimes referred to as Summers' poison frog, is a species of poison dart frogs found in the central Huallaga River drainage and adjacent Cordillera Azul National Park in central Peru. Before 2008, the species was considered a subspecies of Ranitomeya fantastica. The IUCN considers it an endangered species because of limited habitat range, habitat loss, and collection for the pet trade.

<i>Ranitomeya benedicta</i> Species of amphibian

Ranitomeya benedicta, sometimes called the blessed poison frog, is a species of poison dart frogs found in the lowland rainforest of the Pampas del Sacramento in southern Loreto and eastern San Martín Region, northeastern Peru. Before 2008, the species was considered a subspecies of Ranitomeya fantastica. The IUCN considers the species vulnerable because of limited habitat range, habitat loss, and collection for the pet trade.

<i>Andinobates tolimensis</i> Species of amphibian

Andinobates tolimensis, the Tolimense poison frog, is a species of amphibian in the family Dendrobatidae, endemic to Colombia in the outskirts of Falan and north of the department of Tolima. Previously it was included in the genus Ranitomeya, but was reclassified in Andinobates, along with 11 other species. It is threatened by habitat loss. It is toxic to humans and when captured will excrete a milky substance.

Ranitomeya toraro, the Apuriná poison frog, is a species of frog in the family Dendrobatidae. It is endemic to Colombia and Brazil and possibly nearby Peru.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Frost, Darrel R. (2015). "Ranitomeya Bauer, 1986". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  2. Grant, T.; Frost, D. R.; Caldwell, J. P.; Gagliardo, R.; Haddad, C. F. B.; Kok, P. J. R.; Means, D. B.; Noonan, B. P.; Schargel, W. E. & Wheeler, W. C. (2006). "Phylogenetic systematics of dart-poison frogs and their relatives (Amphibia: Athesphatanura: Dendrobatidae)" (PDF). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 299: 1–262. doi:10.1206/0003-0090(2006)299[1:PSODFA]2.0.CO;2. S2CID   82263880.
  3. 1 2 Brown, J. L.; E. Twomey; A. Amézquita; M. B. de Souza; J. P. Caldwell; S. Lötters; R. von May; P. R. Melo-Sampaio; D. Mejía-Vargas; P. E. Pérez-Peña; M. Pepper; E. H. Poelman; M. Sanchez-Rodriguez & K. Summers (2011). "A taxonomic revision of the Neotropical frog genus Ranitomeya (Amphibia: Dendrobatidae)" (PDF). Zootaxa. 3083: 1–120. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3083.1.1.
  4. Masche, Simon; Zimmermann, Helmut; Pröhl, Heike (December 2010). "Description and Ecological Observations of the Tadpole ofRanitomeya variabilis(Anura: Dendrobatidae)". South American Journal of Herpetology. 5 (3): 207–211. doi:10.2994/057.005.0306. ISSN   1808-9798.
  5. "Red list changes highlight threats from over-exploitation". TRAFFIC. 10 November 2011.
  6. Pepper, Mark; Brown, Jason; Twomey, Evan (15 January 2007). "Smuggling". Dendrobates.org. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  7. Pepper, Mark; Twomey, Evan; Brown, Jason L. (Spring 2007). "The Smuggling Crisis" (PDF). Leaf Litter. 1 (1): 5–7. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  8. "Dendrobatidae". AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. [web application]. Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2015.