Ranitomeya

Ranitomeya
R. ventrimaculata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Dendrobatidae
Subfamily: Dendrobatinae
Genus: Ranitomeya
Bauer, 1986
Diversity
16 species (see text)

Ranitomeya is a genus of dart poison frogs found in Panama and South America south to Peru and Brazil, possibly into Bolivia.[1]

Taxonomy

In 2006 Grant et al. revised the systematics of dart poison frogs and placed many species formerly classified in the genera Dendrobates, Minyobates and Phyllobates in Ranitomeya.[2] In 2011 Brown and colleagues, following other scientists who assumed the existence of two distinct clades in Ranitomeya, erected the genus Andinobates for 12 species of Ranitomeya.[3]

Ranitomeya and Andinobates frogs can be distinguished from those in genera such as Dendrobates in that they are generally smaller, have more than two colors, and seem to glitter if viewed from certain angles. Ranitomeya is widespread in the Amazon basin, whereas Andinobates species are found only in the northern Andes down to Central America.

Description

Adults measure no more than 21 mm (0.83 in) in snout–vent length and are typically brightly colored, often with bright yellow, red, or green dorsum that can be uniform in color or with stripes or dots. Also the throat has distinctive color, usually yellow, orange or red. Dorsal skin is smooth or weakly granular. The head is narrower than the body. Fingers and toes bear discs, with those on the fingers being large.[3]

Threats

The blessed poison frog Ranitomeya benedicta and Summers’ poison frog Ranitomeya summersi are threatened by collection for the pet trade.[4]

Species

There are 16 Ranitomeya species:[1][5]

Dendrobates rubrocephalus Schulte, 1999 is placed here Incertae Sedis.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Frost, Darrel R. (2015). "Ranitomeya Bauer, 1986". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  2. Grant, T., Frost, D. R., Caldwell, J. P., Gagliardo, R., Haddad, C. F. B., Kok, P. J. R., Means, D. B., Noonan, B. P., Schargel, W. E., and Wheeler, W. C. (2006). "Phylogenetic systematics of dart-poison frogs and their relatives (Amphibia: Athesphatanura: Dendrobatidae)" (PDF). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 299: 1–262. doi:10.1206/0003-0090(2006)299[1:PSODFA]2.0.CO;2.
  3. 1 2 Brown, J. L., E. Twomey, A. Amézquita, M. B. de Souza, J. P. Caldwell, S. Lötters, R. von May, P. R. Melo-Sampaio, D. Mejía-Vargas, P. E. Pérez-Peña, M. Pepper, E. H. Poelman, M. Sanchez-Rodriguez, and K. Summers (2011). "A taxonomic revision of the Neotropical frog genus Ranitomeya (Amphibia: Dendrobatidae)" (PDF). Zootaxa 3083: 1–120.
  4. "Red list changes highlight threats from over-exploitation". TRAFFIC. 10 November 2011.
  5. "Dendrobatidae". AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. [web application]. Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ranitomeya.
Wikispecies has information related to: Ranitomeya
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, February 21, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.