TAXONOMY
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Suborder: Neobatrachia
Family: Dendrobatidae
Genus/species: Dendrobates auratus
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Green marking on dark background. Color and pattern varies widely among populations of this species. Aposematic (“warning”) coloration shies diurnal predators away from this bold frog An average species in size, toxicity, and coloration. Males reach about three-quarters of an inch long; females are slightly larger.
DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT: Central America to Northwest Colombia lowland tropical rainforests. Common in cocoa (not coca) plantations. Introduced to Hawaii (1932 Oahu) to control non-native insect populations. The “success” of this experiment has yet to be proven. Terrestrial frogs, but will climb. Active diurnally.
DIET IN THE WILD : Ants and mites, also tiny beetles, flies and springtails. Often captures insects feeding on rotting fruit.
REPRODUCTION: Each individual male frog clears a small patch for himself. Females wander among the males, the latter then attempt to impress the former with their bird-like mating calls. the two then mate. The male grasps the female in a gentle embrace, and fertilizes each egg as it is produced. In approximately 2 weeks, these hatch into tadpoles which are carried to the canopy the tadpoles sticking to the mucus on their parents’ backs. The parents then deposit their tadpoles into the small pools of water that accumulate in the center of bromeliads protecting them until their development is complete.
MORTALITY/LONGEVITY: Can live to 17 years.
CONSERVATION: Least Concern (IUCN Red List). Still reported to be locally common, they are at some risk due to habitat destruction. They are popular in the pet trade, but most are captive-born.
REMARKS: D. auratus produces pumiliotoxin, a potent nerve poison manufactured and stored in subcutaneous membranes and secreted through a modified layer of epidermis. The small amount of pumiliotoxin poison the frog possesses is enough to make humans seriously ill by interfering with muscle contraction in the heart and skeletal muscle.
D. auratus, as with all poison dart frogs, loses its toxicity in captivity due to a change in diet. This has led scientists to believe that the green-and-black poison frog actually takes its poison from the ants it feeds on.
Costa Rica Rainforest
References
Animal diversity Web animaldiversity.org/accounts/Dendrobates_auratus/
California Academy of Sciences Docent Rainforest Training Manual 2014
Dendrobates.org www.dendrobates.org/auratus.html
Ron’s flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/sets/72157608456457315/
WordPress shortlink http://wp.me/p1DZ4b-Ln
Ron's Critter of the Day 