Species Hierarchy
Kingdom ANIMAL (ANIMALIA)
Phylum BACKBONED ANIMALS (CHORDATA)
Class SALAMANDERS AND FROGS (AMPHIBIA)
Order AMPHIBIANS - JUMPING (ANURA)
Family FROGS - POISON ARROW (DENDROBATIDAE)
Common name: FROG - STRAWBERRY POISON ARROW
Scentific name: DENDROBATES PUMILIO

HABITAT - ON LEAF
Location: COSTA RICA, CENTRAL AMERICA

Species Info:

This lifeform is found in Central America.

Strawberry Poison Arrow Frog (Dendrobates pumilio) is found in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and south to Panama. The reddish body and blue legs are distinctive. This species is found in the rain forest floor among decaying leaves. The reproduction cycle includes some unusual paternal care. The males and females attend the eggs. The female moves the young to suitable pockets of water such as the water trapped by a Bromeliad. The female returns to lay unfertilized eggs which serve as food for the young tadpoles.

Dendrobates genus contains 25 species of frogs which includes some of the most unusually colored New World tropical frogs.  These are generally small frogs with adults ranging from about 1.5 cm to 5.0 cm long. This genus is found from Nicaragua south to Ecuador and also in northern mainland South America.

Poison Arrow Frogs (Family Dendrobatidae) are a group of about 187 species frogs found in Central and South America from Nicaragua south to Ecuador and south to southeastern Brazil.  Four of the six genera in this family (Dendrobates, Epipedobates, Minhyobates, and Phyllobates) contain species with poisons in their skin. The skin of these frogs secretes toxic alkaloids. Research suggests that these poisons derive from food the frogs eat, and are not produced by the frog from glands. The poisons are sometimes used by natives on their arrow tips to help kill prey. Many of the species in this family are very brightly and beautifully colored. Adults in this family are usually quite small, but a Venezuelan species can be over 6.0 cm long.

Order Anura contains the jumping amphibians such as the frogs and the toads. Chris Mattison in Frogs and Toads of the World gives a very good overview of this group of amphibians. He states that there are 3,445 species in 310 different genera that he believes should fall into 21 different families. The three largest families, in terms of species, are the Ranidae (Typical frogs) with 667 species, the Hylidae (tree frogs) with 630 species, and the Leptodactylidae (small to medium Neotropical frogs) with 710 species. The Bufonidae (true toads) has 335 species.

Amphibians (Class Amphibia) are best known as the frogs, toads, and salamanders. Amphibians begin their life as larvae that live in the water. Some species continue to evolve so that the final forms can breathe air. A typical example, is the  Bullfrog of North America that begins life as a tadpole, and then finally turns into a adult frog. Amphibians usually have a soft, moist skin, and four legs adapted for walking or jumping or  climbing. They have a three-chambered heart which gives them a fairly advanced circulatory system. There are probably about 2,500 species in this class.

Backboned Animals (Phylum Chordata) are the most advanced group of animals on earth. These animals are characterized by having a spinal cord or backbone. Most members have a clearly defined brain that controls the organism through a spinal cord. Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are in this phylum.

Currently, some taxonomists believe that the fish should be divided into two groups (sharks and regular fishes) and that there are some other primitive groups in the phylum such as hagfish or lampreys.

Animal Kingdom contains numerous organisms that feed on other animals or plants. Included in the animal kingdom are the lower marine invertebrates such as sponges and corals, the jointed legged animals such as insects and spiders, and the backboned animals such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

 

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HABITAT - ON LEAF

W/AURATUS IN SHADOW



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TOAD - FOWLERS
BUFO WOODHOUSEI FOWLERI
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PHYLLOBATES PULCHRIPECTUS
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