The marbled poison frog or marbled poison-arrow frog (''Epipedobates boulengeri'') 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 ...

found in western

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

( Cauca, Nariño, Valle del Cauca Departments, including Gorgona Island) and northwestern

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

, at elevations of

asl American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is express ...

. It likely represents a species complex of at least two species.

Description

Males measure and females in snout–vent length. Colouration is variable; dorsum is dark reddish to uniform dark brown, sides are black. There is a pale yellowish or creamy white lateral line and cream-coloured dorsolateral line.

Iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants *Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional enti ...

is dark coppery black.

Diet

Diet is varied and includes mites, ants, coleopterans, dipterans, homopterans, and colembolas.

Habitat and conservation

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 dense moist tropical rainforests as well as altered habitats like gardens and railway tunnels. It is a common species. It 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 ...

; while a somewhat adaptable species, it disappears if the habitat becomes too open and dry.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1346446 Epipedobates Amphibians of Colombia Amphibians of Ecuador Amphibians described in 1909 Taxa named by Thomas Barbour Taxonomy articles created by Polbot