Imitating Poison Frog
Ranitomeya imitator
Amphibia
RARE
Stats
- Lifespan
- 5-15 yrs
- Size
- Small
- Diet
- Insectivore
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Social
- Pair
- Biome
- Tropical rainforest
- Range
- South America
- Movement
- Hopping
- Breeding
- Egg-laying
- Defense
- Warning Colors
- Status
- Rare
About
The mimic poison frog is a tiny Peruvian dendrobatid famous for evolving multiple distinct colour morphs that each closely mimic a different sympatric poison frog species — a striking example of Müllerian mimicry. Males are devoted fathers who carry tadpoles on their backs and deposit them in individual water-filled bromeliads.
Life cycle
- 1.eggA jelly-coated egg is laid in water and develops over days into an aquatic larva.
- 2.tadpoleA gilled tadpole swims and grazes on algae, slowly absorbing its tail and growing limbs.
- 3.juvenileA near-adult amphibian leaves the water with new legs and lungs, smaller than the mature form.
- 4.adultFully grown at adult size, breathing air.
Learn more
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Amphibia
- Order
- Anura
- Family
- Dendrobatidae
- Genus
- Ranitomeya
- Species
- Ranitomeya imitator