Dendrobate À Ventre Tacheté

Taxobox
name = Dendrobate À Ventre Tacheté


status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Amphibia
ordo = Anura
familia = Dendrobatidae
genus = "Dendrobates"
species = "D. ventrimaculatus"
binomial = "Dendrobates ventrimaculatus"
binomial_authority = Shreve, 1935
synonyms = "Ranitomeya ventrimaculata"
Shreve, 1935The Dendrobate À Ventre Tacheté ("Dendrobates ventrimaculatus", also known under the synonym "Ranitomeya ventrimaculata") is a species of poison dart frog.It is found in two separate areas: one in the tropical lowlands along the upper Amazon and possibly its tributaries (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru); and one in Guyana, French Guiana, and Suriname.Its natural habitat are trees, and sometimes also the ground, of tropical rainforests. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Morphology

The frog is active during the day and grows to a size of about convert|20|mm|in, with males smaller than females. Its base color is black, and it has yellow lines or dots on the back, whereas the belly has bluish or grayish color with interspersed black patches (hence the name "ventrimaculatus"); the color of the belly continues into a netlike pattern on the legs.

Toxicity

"D. ventrimaculatus" secretes venoms through glands in the skin which protect it from fungi and bacteria as well as from predators, which are also warned to stay clear by the aposematic coloration. It is therefore often included among the dart-poison frogs, although its venom is comparatively weak. Similar to them, "D. ventrimaculatus" produces its poison by ingestion of certain insects, in this case a species of mites.

Reproduction

"D. ventrimaculatus" reach adulthood at an age of six months. The females attach four to eight eggs to leaves beneath the water level, where they are inseminated by the male. The tadpoles leave the eggs after 12 to 16 days, the male carries them one by one to puddles or similar minute bodies of water; as the tadpoles are omnivorous and cannibalistic, they are separated from each other in the process. Metamorphosis into a frog is complete after 60 to 80 days.

ee also

References

* Azevedo-Ramos, C., Reynolds, R., Coloma, L.A & Ron, S. 2004. [http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/55208/all Dendrobates ventrimaculatus] . [http://www.iucnredlist.org 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. ] Downloaded on 21 July 2007.