Irresistible Phyllobates Terribilis(37mm-41mm)

Phyllobates Terribilis Description

The Phyllobates Terribilis is the largest species of poison dart frog, and can reach a weight of nearly 30 grams with a length of 6 cm as adults. Females are typically larger than males. The adults are brightly colored, while juvenile frogs have mostly black bodies with two golden-yellow stripes along their backs. The black fades as they mature, and at around 18 weeks of age the frog is fully colored. The frog’s color pattern is aposematic (a coloration to warn predators of its toxicity). Despite their common name, golden poison frogs occur in four main color varieties or morphs:

Yellow

The yellow morph is the reason Phyllobates terribilis has the common name golden poison frog. These frogs can be pale yellow to deep, golden yellow in color. Yellow Phyllobates terribilis specimens are found in Quebrada Guangui, Colombia.

Taxonomy and etymology

The golden poison frog was described as Phyllobates terribilis in 1978 by herpetologists Charles W. Myers and Borys Malkin as well as biochemist John W. Daly; the species name terribilis is a reference to the deadly toxins present in the skin secretions of this species. Myers’ research was based on hundreds of specimens collected on an expedition to the Quebrada Guangui and La Brea regions of the Colombian rainforest, and a breeding colony of 18 frogs established at the American Museum of Natural History

Orange blackfoot

The orange blackfoot morph is a captive bred line established by Tesoros de Colombia, a Colombian company that aims to reduce poaching of wild dart frogs by breeding rare species and flooding the pet trade with low cost animals to decrease the value of wild specimens to poachers. This morph is golden yellow to a deep orange. They have dark markings on their feet, throat, vent, and rump that range from distinct black to nearly absent or speckled grey.

Diet

This species is an unspecialized ambush hunter; an adult frog can eat food items much larger in relation to its size than most other dendrobatids. The main natural sources of food of P. terribilis are the ants in the genera Brachymyrmex and Paratrechina, but many kinds of insects and other small invertebrates can be eaten, specifically termites and beetles, which can easily be found on the rainforest floor.Tadpoles feed on algae, mosquito larvae, and other edible material that may be present in their environment.

Breeding

Males advertise to receptive females with a trilling call. Golden poison frogs are notable for demonstrating tactile courtship during reproduction, each partner stroking its mate’s head, back, flanks, and cloacal areas prior to egg deposition. The eggs are fertilized externally. The golden poison frogs lay their eggs on the ground, hidden beneath leaf litter. Once the tadpoles emerge from their eggs, they stick themselves to the mucus on the backs of their parents. The adult frogs carry their young into the canopy, depositing them in the pools of water that accumulate in the centre of bromeliads and water-filled tree holes. The tadpoles feed on algae and mosquito larvae in their nursery.

Predators

Golden poison frogs are so toxic that adult frogs likely have few – if any – predators. The snake species Leimadophis epinephelus has shown resistance to several frog toxins including batrachotoxin, and has been observed to eat juvenile frogs without ill effects.

Toxicity

The golden poison frog is the most poisonous animal on the planet; these frogs produce deadly alkaloid batrachotoxins in their skin glands.