''Epipedobates'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 northern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

(Colombia and Ecuador) west of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

, including the western slopes. Common name phantasmal poison frogs has been suggested for the genus.

Taxonomy

''Epipedobates'' was erected in 1987 in an attempt to split dendrobatids into

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

genera, accommodating species that had until then been placed in ''

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 w ...

''. In the major revision of poison dart frogs in 2006, most of the species formerly placed in ''Epipedobates'' were then transferred to ''

Ameerega ''Ameerega'' is a genus of poison dart frogs in the family Dendrobatidae. These frogs live around rocks that are nearby streams. They are found in central South America north to Panama. It contains many former species of the genus ''Epipedobates' ...

'', leaving behind just five species. With description of new species, the species count had increased to seven by early 2015.

Description

Dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal c ...

colouration is cryptic, brown. A pale oblique lateral stripe is present. Dorsal skin is smooth or with irregularly scattered granules or tubercles, most distinct and prevalent posteriorly. In adult males, third finger is swollen.

Species

There are seven species:

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q648727 Poison dart frogs Amphibians of South America Amphibian genera