''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 classified in the genera ''
Dendrobates
''Dendrobates'' is a genus of poison dart frogs native to Central and South America. It once contained numerous species, but most originally placed in this genus have been split off into other genera such as '' Adelphobates'', '' Ameerega'', '' ...
'', ''
Minyobates'' and ''
Phyllobates
''Phyllobates'' is a genus of poison dart frogs native to Central and South America, from Nicaragua to Colombia. There are 3 different Colombian species of ''Phyllobates'', considered highly toxic species due to the poison they contain in the wil ...
'' in ''Ranitomeya''.
In 2011 Brown and colleagues, following other scientists who assumed the existence of two distinct clades in ''Ranitomeya'', erected the genus ''
Andinobates
''Andinobates'' is a genus of poison dart frogs from Ecuador, Colombia and Panama. It contains species formerly classified in the genus ''Dendrobates'' and in 2006 transferred to the genus ''Ranitomeya''. In 2011 Twomey, Brown, and their colleag ...
'' for 12 species of ''Ranitomeya''.
''Ranitomeya'' and ''Andinobates'' frogs can be distinguished from those in genera such as ''Dendrobates'' in that they are generally smaller, have more than two colors, and seem to glitter if viewed from certain angles. ''Ranitomeya'' is widespread 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 ...
, whereas ''Andinobates'' species are found only in the northern
Andes
The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...
down to Central America.
Description
Adults measure no more than in snout–vent length and are typically brightly colored, often with bright yellow, red, or green dorsum that can be uniform in color or with stripes or dots. Also the throat has distinctive color, usually yellow, orange or red. Dorsal skin is smooth or weakly granular. The head is narrower than the body. Fingers and toes bear discs, with those on the fingers being large.
Some species in the genus, such as ''
R. variabilis'', exhibit tadpole transport and cannibalistic behavior.
Threats
Many ''Ranitomeya'' species are threatened by habitat loss and collection for the pet trade.
Species
There are currently 18 accepted species in the genus ''Ranitomeya'':
incertae sedis
or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...
''.[
In 2025, a team of researchers published the description of two new ''Ranitomeya'' species, '' R. aquamarina'' and '' R. aetherea'', representing the first species named in the genus in more than ten years. The publications describing these species were accompanied by a molecular ]phylogenetic analysis
In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical data ...
including all members of the genus named to that point. These results are displayed in the cladogram
A cladogram (from Greek language, Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an Phylogenetic tree, evolutionary tree because it does not s ...
below, with species groups
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 ...
noted.[
Poison dart frogs
Amphibians of Central America
Frogs of South America
Species that are or were threatened by the pet trade
Amphibian genera
]