Zimmermann's Poison Frog

About the Zimmermann's Poison Frog

Ranitomeya variabilis, formerly known as Dendrodates variabilis, is a species of small poison dart frog distributed in northern Peru, along the eastern slope of Andes in the upper Rio Huallaga drainage basin. Its common name, Zimmerman's poison frog, is named after Elke Zimmermann, a German zoologist who described the morph of this species and differentiated it from D. ventrimaculatus. The species was formerly considered to be synonymous with Ranitomeya ventrimaculata.

Ranitomeya variabilis usually has a bright yellow body with deep blue limbs, and black spots or stripes across the ventral side of the body. The colors change in some geographic locations. R. variabilis has different mimicry relationships with two other species. Like other frogs in the same family, R. variabilis has toxic skin alkaloid which repels potential predators.

R. variabilis are cannibalistic even as tadpoles, so adult male parents may allow tadpoles to jump on their backs and transport them to less crowded areas. Adult R. variabilis use chemical cues to determine the presence of tadpoles and whether they are cannibalistic or not.

R. variabilis are characterized by a black spot... Wikipedia →