''Allobates marchesianus'', also known as the dull rocket frog, is a species of frog in the family

Aromobatidae 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 tox ...

. It is found in the

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. However, this species might represent a cryptic

species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

, where at least the populations from Venezuela belong to an undescribed species.

Description

Adult males measure and adult females in snout-vent length. The snout is short, slightly rounded in the dorsal view and acutely rounded in the lateral view. The anteroventral margin of the tympanum is distinct, whereas the posterodorsal margin is obscured by the supratympanic fold. The fingers and toes bear terminal discs. The toes have very weak lateral keels and some basal webbing. The dorsum is reddish brown with small brown granules. The dorsolateral stripe is distinct, light reddish brown. A chocolate-brown band runs from across the snout through the eye and upper tympanum, above arm insertion, and to the groin. Females have yellow throat, chest, and belly, varying in intensity among individuals, and pale yellow blotches on the flanks. Males have light gay belly and gray to dark gray throat and chest; the flanks have white blotches. Eggs are laid in

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth, as opposed to extraterrestrial. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on o ...

nests guarded by the male. The male or the female transports the

tadpole A tadpole or polliwog (also spelled pollywog) is the Larva, larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully Aquatic animal, aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial animal, ...

s to a pond or small stream.

Habitat and conservation

''Allobates marchesianus'' occurs in secondary and

old-growth An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without Disturbance (ecology), disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organizati ...

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are dense and warm rainforests with high rainfall typically found between 10° north and south of the Equator. They are a subset of the tropical forest biome that occurs roughly within the 28° latitudes (in the torrid zo ...

s at elevations up to

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. It lives on the forest floor. Reproduction takes place in small pools. It is a common species but its habitat is threatened by clear cutting, logging, forest conversion, and fires. Its range includes several protected areas.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2838451 marchesianus Frogs of Brazil Amphibians of Colombia Amphibians of Ecuador Amphibians of Peru Amphibians of Venezuela Amphibians described in 1941 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot