''Phyllobates'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of poison dart frogs native to Central and South America, from

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

to Colombia. There are 3 different Colombian species of ''Phyllobates'', considered highly toxic species due to the poison they contain in the wild. ''Phyllobates'' contains the most poisonous species of frog, the

golden poison frog The golden poison frog (''Phyllobates terribilis''), also known as the golden dart frog or golden poison arrow frog, is a poison dart frog endemic to the rainforests of Colombia. The golden poison frog has become endangered due to habitat destr ...

(''P. terribilis''). They are typical of the poison dart frogs, in that all species have bright

warning coloration Aposematism is the advertising by an animal to potential predators that it is not worth attacking or eating. This unprofitability may consist of any defences which make the prey difficult to kill and eat, such as toxicity, venom, foul taste ...

(aposematism), and have varying degrees of

toxicity Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subs ...

. Only species of ''Phyllobates'' are used by natives of South American tribes as sources of poison for their hunting darts. The most toxic of the many poisonous

alkaloid Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar ...

s these frogs contain (in glands in their skin) is batrachotoxin, alongside a wide variety of other toxic compounds. Some populations of ''

Phyllobates lugubris The lovely poison frog or lovely poison-arrow frog (''Phyllobates lugubris'') is a species of frog in the family Dendrobatidae. It is found on the Caribbean versant of Central America from southeastern Nicaragua through Costa Rica to northwestern ...

'' in Central America are not known to be toxic.

Taxonomy

''Phyllobates'' (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

for "leaf climber") used to contain many of the species which are now within the genus '' Ranitomeya''. However, it now just contains those six members within the ''Phyllobates bicolor ''species group. These are: All these different species within the genus exhibit a diversity in color. Some examples are, ''P. terribilis'', with color morphs of "mint", "yellow", and "orange". ''P. vittatus'', another example, is always black as a ground color, but can show yellow stripes, orange stripes, red stripes,(stripes of all colors can be seen in two forms, narrow- and wide-banded) and turquoise, green, or blue legs, etc. The bicolor dart frog ('' Phyllobates bicolor'') can range from yellow to orange, from black legs to green legs, to almost a uniform color of any of the aforementioned color morphs. ''P. aurotaenia'' specimens are yellow-banded or orange. They are always smaller than ''P. vittatus'', and beyond locality, this is the best way to differentiate between the two in the field or in the hobby.

Source of toxin

The toxic alkaloid batrachotoxin is only present in frogs found in the wild; after extended captivity, they lose their toxin, indicating that they acquire it (or metabolize it) from their natural diet; this alkaloid has been found in Papuan beetle species in the family

Melyridae Melyridae (common name: soft-winged flower beetles) are a family of beetles of the superfamily Cleroidea. Description Most are elongate-oval, soft-bodied beetles 10 mm long or less. Many are brightly patterned in black and brown, yellow, ...

, and other related genera can be found in Colombia and other areas where ''Phyllobates'' are found.

References

* * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q882284 Amphibian genera Taxa named by André Marie Constant Duméril Taxa named by Gabriel Bibron Amphibians of South America Amphibians of Central America

Taxonomy

Source of toxin

See also

References