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Poison
Arrow Frogs
From how poison frogs communicate to the way they look and more, welcome to the world of poison arrow frogs!
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| Animal Communication |
Poison arrow frogs, also commonly called poison dart frog, communicate in different ways. Males use soft vocalizations to attract females for mating and to establish territories. Scientists also believe the frogs use touch, visual displays and chemical cues in order to communicate. Poison dart frogs also use their skin color to
communicate to other animals. And in the case of poison dart frogs, the bright colors mean serious business. Many varieties are extremely poisonous and will kill animals, such as birds, if they are eaten. Many species of poison dart frogs secrete poison through their skin, and in some species even a lick can prove fatal! When dealing with poison dart frogs remember you can look - but don't touch. Poison dart frogs come in many colors. They can be red, blue, green or yellow with black areas. They also have flash colors. Flash colors are only shown when the frogs jump. They can also have a variety of color patterns from spots to stripes. There are 170 species of poison arrow frogs and most have a bright splash of color.
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| Physical Characteristics |
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There are more than 100 different species of poison dart frogs. Only a few of these species are actually poisonous to humans and animals.
Adult frogs breath through their skin and lungs, unlike tadpoles which
breath using gills. Tadpoles
lack legs and have tails which are needed for their watery habitat. The
strawberry poison dart frog is only an inch long and is usually orange with blue legs. However,
off the coast of Panama, our little "friends" can be white
with black spots, green, blue, black and brown.
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| Habitat |
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Most species of poison frogs live from Nicaragua to Peru, to southern Brazil. These frogs live in only in South and Central America. These tiny
frogs usually live in humid, lowland forests.
One species is found in higher places in the Andes Mountains.
Another species is found in the Caribbean Islands of Trinidad a A frog needs moist skin, so a rainforest is an ideal habitat.
Frogs prefer locations near small streams or pools.
Green and black poison arrow frogs live on the floor of rainforests.
The blue poison frog is found in southern Suriname in a region
called Sipaliwini Savannah, at elevations up to 430 meters.
Surprising these forests are warm and humid. The
temperature is 22-27 degrees Celsius during the day and gets down to 20
degrees Celsius at night. Red and
blue poison frogs live along the forest floor in Costa Rica.
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In
some
species, the tadpoles will eat unfertilized eggs which their mothers
leave for them. Juveniles
eat mainly mites, springtail and rotifers. |
| Growth & Reproduction |
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Eggs are laid on land.
A male will clean off a flat surface and defend it by wrestling
if necessary. Than the male
calls to attract a female. The
male will then stay near the eggs until they hatch. (1-2 weeks). When they hatch the "nurse frog" (again usually the
male) will take the tadpoles to a water source where they continue their
development. A couple of
tadpoles at a time will stick themselves to a mucus patch on the nurse
frog's back. The mucus
dissolves when the frog enters a water source, and then the tadpoles are on
their own. The adult frog may have to take several journeys to get all
of the tadpoles. Depending
on the species, the frogs may lay 2-30 eggs.
Total development of the tadpole can take 43-52 days.
Information on how long dart frogs live is unclear. Their life expectancy has been up to ten years in captivity.
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| Other Interesting Facts |
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| Activities |
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Poison dart
frogs are diurnal (active during the daytime) and are seldom still during the day.
They are very adaptable and do well in aquariums. View a video of poison dart frog taken at the Milwaukee County Zoo (Click Here)
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| Citations |
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Video Video of poison dart frog created by page author, Alonzo at the Milwaukee County Zoo. 11 March 2006. Online Resources Brown, J. 2004.
"Dendrobates azureus".
Animal Diversity Web. February 28, 2006. <http://anumaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Dendrobates_azureus.html>. Hamlett,
Lori. "Blue Poison Arrow Frog." Nashville Zoo.
15 April 2006 <http://www.nashvillezoo.org/blfrog.htm>. "Kokoi
Poison Arrow Frog" Encyclopedia
of Animals. EBSCO
Publishing 2006. February
28, 2006. Searchasaurus. "Poison
Arrow Frogs." Encyclopedia of Animals.
EBSCO Publishing 2006. February 28, 2006. Searchasaurus. "Poison
Dart Frogs, Mantellas, etc." Poison
Frogs. February 28, 2006. < http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/species/poison.html
>. "Red and
Blue Poison Dart Frogs." Encyclopedia
of Animals. EBSCO
Publishing 2006. February
28, . 2006. Searchasaurus. Schafer, R.
1999. "Dendrobates auratus". Animal Diversity Web. February
28, 2006. <http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Dendrobates_auratus.html>. Weisburd, S.
"Jump for Joy: Blue Frog Babies."
Science News. 4/16/88:
Vol. 133 Issue 16, p247. EBSCO Publishing 2006.
February 28, 2006. Searchasaurus. Images Copyrighted images of frog in pond from "Animation Factory" <http://www.animationfactory.com/> March, 2006. Animations are not in the public domain and are available only to members. Permission to use photographs of frogs on wall is granted under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page>. Clip art images of poison arrow frogs from "Icon Bazaar" <http://www.iconbazaar.com/> February, 2006. Copyrighted images available for personal use. Copyrighted
image
of trees in the rainforest from "Microsoft
Office Online" <http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/default.aspx?lc=en-us&cag=1>
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Their brightly colored skin warns predators to stay away. In
the animal kingdom, bright colors tell predators that the animal may
be poisonous. A structural adaptation that is used to
communicate is called a badge. Badges are the color
and shape of the animal and are a form of visual communication. The
bright skin color of the poison dart frog is a badge. Animals
often communicate using structural adaptations like the brightly
colored skin of the poison dart frog which tells predators to keep
away.
Poison
dart frogs have small adhesive pads on their toes consisting of a groove that
runs right around the pad.