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

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

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 and South America. T ...

. 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 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 found elsew ...

to the western slope of the Cordillera Occidental, Colombia.

Habitat and ecology

Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and 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 ...

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 (Possibly

Extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

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

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

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 and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

(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