''Phyllobates'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

poison dart frog 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 Dendrobatidae which are native to tropical Central and South America. These species are ...

s native to Central and South America, from

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

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 ...

. 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 endemism, endemic from the rainforests of Colombia. The golden poison frog has become endangered due to h ...

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

warning coloration Aposematism is the Advertising in biology, advertising by an animal, whether terrestrial or marine, to potential predation, predators that it is not worth attacking or eating. This unprofitability may consist of any defenses which make the pr ...

(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, bacteria, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect o ...

. 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 broad class of natural product, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. Some synthetic compounds of similar structure may also be termed alkaloids. Alkaloids are produced by a large varie ...

s these frogs contain (in glands in their skin) is

batrachotoxin Batrachotoxin (BTX) is an extremely potent cardiotoxic and neurotoxic steroidal alkaloid found in certain species of beetles, birds, and frogs. The name is from the Greek word . Structurally-related chemical compounds are often referred to collec ...

, alongside a wide variety of other toxic compounds. Some populations of '' Phyllobates lugubris'' 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 classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

for "leaf climber") used to contain many of the species which are now within the genus ''

Ranitomeya ''Ranitomeya'' is a genus of dart poison frogs found in Panama and South America south to Peru and Brazil, possibly into Bolivia. Taxonomy In 2006 Grant et al. revised the systematics of poison dart frogs and placed many species formerly classif ...

''. 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 ''Phyllobates bicolor'', or more commonly referred to as the black-legged poison dart frog, is the world's second-most toxic dart frog. Under the genus ''Phyllobates'', this organism is often mistaken as ''Phyllobates terribilis'', the golden pois ...

'') 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

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

* * * {{Authority control 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