The green poison frog (''Andinobates viridis'') is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

in the family

Dendrobatidae Poison dart frog (also known as dart-poison frog, poison frog or formerly known as poison arrow frog) is the common name of a group of frogs in the Family (biology), family Dendrobatidae which are native to tropical Central America, Central an ...

. They are a small green colored frog, approximately 14-16 millimeters in size. Their color is a uniform green with brighter green back and legs, while the ventral side of the frog is metallic. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the western slope of the Cordillera Occidental, Colombia.

Habitat and ecology

Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are primary lowland and sub-montane forests; it can also been found in good secondary forests. They are found in the forest at a 100 meter to 1300 meter altitude, where bromeliads are located. It is a very rare frog, numbering at fewer than 50, maybe even no individuals. Not seen since 2005, the species was uplisted from " Vulnerable" to "

Critically Endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

(Possibly

Extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

)" in 2017. It is one of many organisms that uses the

bromeliad The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a Family (biology), family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the Tropics, tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and on ...

plant as its host. The water inside the plant is an essential resource for the green poison frog as well as other organisms. These frogs seek particular characteristics in the plant, like the size of the tank and its water quality. However, due to the frog's specificity, they do not utilize random bromeliads, they must have particular features.

Conservation status and threats

The green poison frog is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

(deforestation), pollution, invasive and other problematic species, and genes and diseases. Similarly to the green poison frog, certain species of the

plant are becoming extinct, resulting in co-extinction. Small frogs eat drosophila, micro-crickets, small wax maggots, meadow plankton and springtails. This species is not recorded in the international pet trade. As far as movement patterns, it is not a migrant.

References

Andinobates Amphibians of Colombia Endemic fauna of Colombia Amphibians described in 1976 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Dendrobatidae-stub