Stats

Lifespan: 10-15 yrs
Size: Large
Diet: Insectivore
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Solitary
Biome: Tropical rainforest
Range: Guiana Shield
Movement: Hopping
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Toxins
Status: Rare

About

The dyeing poison dart frog takes its name from an indigenous practice of rubbing nestling parrots against its skin to permanently alter the colour of their growing feathers. Alkaloids sequestered from a diet of ants and mites make it one of the most toxic amphibians on Earth.

Life cycle

1.
egg
A jelly-coated egg is laid in water and develops over days into an aquatic larva.
2.
tadpole
A gilled tadpole swims and grazes on algae, slowly absorbing its tail and growing limbs.
3.
juvenile
A near-adult amphibian leaves the water with new legs and lungs, smaller than the mature form.
4.
adult
Fully grown at adult size, breathing air.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Dendrobatidae
Genus: Dendrobates
Species: Dendrobates tinctorius