''Ranitomeya summersi'', sometimes referred to as Summers' poison frog, is a species of

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 found in the central

Huallaga River The Huallaga River is a tributary of the Marañón River, part of the Amazon Basin. Old names for this river include ''Guallaga'' and ''Rio de los Motilones''. The Huallaga is born on the slopes of the Andes in central Peru and joins the Marañó ...

drainage and adjacent

Cordillera Azul National Park Cordillera Azul National Park () is a protected area in Peru. It protects part of the Ucayali moist forests ecoregion. History In 1963, the Biavo-Cordillera Azul National Forest was established, spanning 2,178,000 hectares. In 1997, this area ...

in central Peru. Before 2008, the species was considered a subspecies of ''

Ranitomeya fantastica ''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 classi ...

''. The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

considers it an endangered species because of limited habitat range, habitat loss, and collection for the pet trade.

Morphology

''Ranitomeya summersi'' is one of the larger species of poison dart frogs. It has an orange and black banded pattern and a large snout to vent length. Males and females exhibit no sexual dimorphism in snout to vent length, exhibiting a range from 15.5 mm to 20.4 mm. This species possesses a black marking over the eyes extending past the tympanum giving them the appearance of a mask. The species is a Batesian mimicry of Ranitomeya Variabilis. While '' Ranitomeya imitator'' can copy the appearance of ''R. summersi, R. summersi'' can be distinguished from the imitator by its soft buzz call which can only be heard less than 1 m away, and its dark mask which covers the tympanum. In contrast the ''Ranitomeya imitator'' calls are much louder and can be heard from 5 m away.

Habitat

This diurnal frog is primarily terrestrial. It inhabits dry primary and secondary submontane forest. It has been observed between 180 and 700 meters above sea level.

Life cycle

The female frog lays eggs in

leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall, or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that has fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituen ...

in clutches of 6-9. After the eggs hatch, the male frog carries them to pools of water inside holes in trees or in the axils of the plant ''Dieffenbachia''.

Threats

The IUCN classifies this frog as endangered because of the considerable and ongoing habitat loss associated with widespread deforestation in favor of both small-scale farming and agrobusiness. This frog is highly prized as a terrarium pet and can be captured for the international pet trade. Although there was some legal export circa 2001 and although it is possible to rear this animal in captivity, almost all the pet frogs currently held by humans are either illegal captures or the descendants of illegal captures. The frog's range has not been found to include any protected parks, but it passes near

Cordillera Escalera Regional Conservation Area A cordillera is a chain or network of mountain ranges, such as those in the west coast of the Americas. The term is borrowed from Spanish, where the word comes from , a diminutive of ('rope'). The term is most commonly used in physical geograp ...

and

. As of 2018, the frog has not been formally observed as present in these parks.

References

Ranitomeya Endemic fauna of Peru Amphibians of Peru Frogs of South America Amphibians described in 2008 {{dendrobatidae-stub