The granular poison frog or granular poison arrow frog (''Oophaga granulifera'') is a species of

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

in the family Dendrobatidae, found in Costa Rica and

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

. Originally described as ''Dendrobates granuliferus'', it was moved to ''Oophaga'' in 1994. 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 tropical humid lowland forests; 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 ...

Description

The granular poison frog is a small frog with slender limbs growing to about . Its skin is finely granulated and its colour is typically bright orange head, body and upper arms and bluish-green underparts, legs and lower arms. In the vicinity of Quepos, Costa Rica, there is a colour morph in which the orange colour is replaced with olive green.

Distribution and habitat

The granular poison frog is native to Costa Rica and Panama. Its range extends from southwestern Costa Rica through the adjacent area of south-western Panama at heights of up to above sea level. It also occurs in Piedras Blancas National Park in south-eastern Costa Rica. It inhabits the leaf litter of the floor of humid low altitude forests.

Behaviour

The granular poison frog is a diurnal terrestrial species. Breeding takes place in the rainy season and the female lays groups of three or four eggs in curled up dead leaves, under stones, in twig forks and in leaf axils just above the ground. The male guards the eggs and keeps them moist with his urine. When they hatch, the female carries the

tadpole A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found ...

s singly to temporary water bodies such as hollows in trees, leaf axils of species such as ''

Dieffenbachia ''Dieffenbachia'' , commonly known as dumb cane or leopard lily, is a genus of tropical flowering plants in the family Araceae. It is native to the New World Tropics from Mexico and the West Indies south to Argentina. Some species are widely cul ...

'' and to bromeliads, at heights of a metre or two off the ground. The volume of water in these cavities averages . The female feeds the tadpoles on an ongoing basis by laying unfertilised eggs in the water bodies. The frog is an

aposematic Aposematism is the advertising by an animal to potential predators that it is not worth attacking or eating. This unprofitability may consist of any defences which make the prey difficult to kill and eat, such as toxicity, venom, foul taste o ...

animal, and it uses poison only for self-defense from predators. Its bright colors are used as a warning signal to all possible predators. Experimental studies in Costa Rica suggest the male granular poison frog spends the majority of its time and energy defending its calling site. These warning signals are more vocal (acoustic) than visual. If an encroaching male dared to approach too closely, a fight could ensue.Amphibian rescue
Information about the granular poison frog

Status

The IUCN has listed this species as being " Vulnerable" because its range is relatively small, its numbers seem to be declining and it is threatened by destruction of its rainforest habitat.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q138758 Oophaga Frogs of North America Aposematic species Amphibians of Costa Rica Amphibians of Panama Amphibians described in 1958 Taxa named by Edward Harrison Taylor Taxonomy articles created by Polbot