''Oophaga anchicayensis'' is a species of poison frog in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

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 ...

. It lives 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 ...

. It is one of three species that were separated from '' Oophaga histrionica'' in 2018.

Taxonomy

''Oophaga anchicayensis'' has traditionally been classified as ''Oophaga histrionica'', a phenotypically diverse species. In 2018, Posso-Terranova and Andrés showed evidence for ''Oophaga histrionica'' being a

species complex 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 ...

, which they separated into four distinct species. In addition to ''Oophaga histrionica'' (sensu stricto), they recognized three previously undescribed species, one of which they named ''Oophaga anchicayensis''. The species epithet refers to San José de Anchicayá, from where the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

was collected. ''Oophaga anchicayensis'' and '' Oophaga lehmanni'' are

parapatric In parapatric speciation, two subpopulations of a species evolve reproductive isolation from one another while continuing to exchange genes. This mode of speciation has three distinguishing characteristics: 1) mating occurs non-randomly, 2) gene ...

species, and hybridization has been shown to occur between them. It has been suggested that the hybrids are a result of recent human-mediated translocation, but genomic analyses by Ebersbach et al. (2018) instead support an older, presumably natural hybridization. As natural hybrids, Ebersbach considers these frogs to be equally deserving of protection as the parent species, as opposed to a threat to species diversity. However, frogs hybridized by humans may occur in the pet trade, where the intermediate color morph between ''Oophaga anchicayensis'' and ''Oophaga lehmanni'' has commercial value.

Description

''Oophaga anchicayensis'' has yellow, orange, or greenish dorsal spots on a black background. The number of spots is highly variable. The poison frog is large, with an average

snout–vent length Snout–vent length (SVL) is a morphometric measurement taken in herpetology from the tip of the snout to the most posterior opening of the cloacal slit (vent)."direct line distance from tip of snout to posterior margin of vent" It is the most c ...

of .

Distribution and habitat

The species is found in western

in an area of less than . It lives in the foothills of

Farallones de Cali Farallones de Cali is a cluster of mountains in the West Andes of Colombia. It is located west of the city of Cali and gives rise to many of the rivers that provide water and electricity to Cali. The PNN Farallones de Cali encompasses in the ...

, 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 ...

, in altitudes between and . ''Oophaga anchicayensis'' is terrestrial, and its habitat is

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equatori ...

Threats

The population of ''Oophaga anchicayensis'' is in decline, and the species has been listed as

Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

. It is heavily sought after in the international wildlife market, and illegal collection is the main threat to the species. There is also relatively strong pressure from deforestation.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q81850515 anchicayensis Frogs of South America Amphibians of Colombia Amphibians described in 2021