Species Description: Rueda-Almonacid, Rada, Sanchez-Pacheco, Velasquez-Alvarez & Quevedo 2006 Two new and exceptional poison dart frogs of the genus Dendrobates (Anura: Dendrobatidae) from the northeastern flank of the Cordillera Central of Colombia. Zootaxa 1259: 39-54
© 2008 Mauricio Rivera Correa (1 of 15)
Description: Andinobates dorisswansonae is a small species with a snout-vent length of about 16.8 mm (range: 16.28-17.1 mm) in males and 18.2 mm (range: 17.54-19.43 mm) in females. The head is wider than the body in males but much narrower than the body in females. The snout is rounded when viewed both from above and in profile, with a rounded canthus rostralis and a flattened, vertical, and weakly concave loreal region. No postrictal tubercles are present. Vomerine, maxillary, and premaxillary teeth are not present. The tongue is long (length 2x the width). Eyes are large and prominent, with horizontally elliptical pupils. The tympanum and tympanal ring are oval-shaped and covered by skin in the posterodorsal region, and the supratympanic fold is lacking. The hand is relatively large, with moderately expanded discs on all the digits and paired dorsal pads on the discs. The disc of finger I has a rounded distal edge, while all other finger discs have truncated or undulated distal edges. Hind limbs are relatively short. In this species, the first toe is reduced and partially or totally fused to the second, so that the foot appears to bear only four toes. Toe discs are rounded and slightly wider than the digits, but much smaller than finger discs. Relative length of fingers is III>IV>II>I and of toes is IV>III>V>II. Outer metatarsal tubercle is small, elongated, and protuberant but flattened. Inner metatarsal tubercle is larger and conical. The skin is smooth on the back, belly, and flank. Males have a thinner and slightly smaller body than females, with the head slightly wider than the abdomen. Males can also be distinguished by a wider disc on finger III and the presence of vocal slits.
In life, coloration on the back, throat, chest, and upper belly is dark brown or black with irregular red or yellow-orange blotches. Black or sepia legs may have round, red spots. A bright red band is present over the upper lip, extending from the snout tip to the arm insertion. In preservative, red coloration becomes white, and dark areas may become slightly paler(Rueda-Almonacid et al. 2006).
This species is syntopic with Andinobates tolimense, but can be distinguished by coloration (brown or dark brown with a metallic yellow-bronze head in A. tolimense) and morphology (toes are completely separate in A. tolimense) (Bernal et. al 2007).
Distribution and Habitat
Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
This species is syntopic with Andinobates tolimense. The two species can be distinguished by coloration and toe number (Bernal et al. 2007).
Trends and Threats
Relation to Humans
Possible reasons for amphibian decline
General habitat alteration and loss
This species was described by Rueda-Almonacid et al. (2006) as Dendrobates dorisswansoni; the specific epithet was corrected by Frost (Amphibian Species of the World Database).
A. dorisswansonae is named after Doris Swanson, a dedicated conservationist from Spokane, Washington committed to protecting biodiversity in global hotspots such as the Tropical Andes (Rueda-Almonacid et al. 2006).
It is one of only two dendrobatids to have four toes on the foot due to the fusion of the first toe with the second. In A. dorisswansonae the two toes are partially or totally fused, while in A. daleswansoni the two toes are totally fused. This novel character may lead to the placement of these two species in a new genus in the future (Rueda-Almonacid et al. 2006). In 2011, the genus Dendrobates was subdivided into seven genera, including the new genus Andinobates by Brown et al (2011).
Rueda-Almonacid, J. V., Rada, M., Sánchez-Pacheco, S. J., Velásquez-Álvarez, A. A., and Quevedo-Gil, A. (2006). ''Two new and exceptional poison dart frogs of the genus Dendrobates (Anura: Dendrobatidae) from the northeastern flank of the Cordillera Central of Colombia.'' Zootaxa, 1259, 39-54.
Bernal, M. H., Luna-Mora, V. F., Gallego, O., and Quevedo, A. (2007). ''A new species of poison frog (Amphibia: Dendrobatidae) from the Andean mountains of Tolima, Colombia.'' Zootaxa, 1638, 59-68.
Brown J.L., Twomey E., Amézquita A., De Souza M.B., Caldwell J.P., Lötters S., Von May R., Melo-Sampaio P.R., Mejía-Vargas D., Perez-Peña P., Pepper M., Poelman E.H., Sanchez-Rodriguez M., and Summers K. (2011). "A taxonomic revision of the Neotropical poison frog genus Ranitomeya (Amphibia: Dendrobatidae)." Zootaxa, 3083, 1-120. [link]
Stuart, S., Hoffmann, M., Chanson, J., Cox, N., Berridge, R., Ramani, P., Young, B. (eds) (2008). Threatened Amphibians of the World. Lynx Edicions, IUCN, and Conservation International, Barcelona, Spain; Gland, Switzerland; and Arlington, Virginia, USA.
Originally submitted by: Monique Picon (first posted 2010-09-15)
Edited by: Kellie Whittaker, taxonomy Michelle S. Koo (2012-01-26)
Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2012 Andinobates dorisswansonae <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/6774> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Jun 25, 2022.
Feedback or comments about this page.
Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2022. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 25 Jun 2022.
AmphibiaWeb's policy on data use.