Oophaga

Erdbeerfroeschchen ( Oophaga pumilio )

Oophaga is a genus of poison dart frog ( Dendrobatidae ). It currently consists of nine relatively small species that are found in southern Central America and northern South America. The best known species of this genus is the Erdbeerfroeschchen ( Oophaga pumilio ), which is also the type species of the genus.

Features

The species of the genus Oophaga are small to medium-sized poison dart frogs. All species are conspicuously colored colorful.

The genus itself has been described mainly on the basis of molecular characteristics and morphological similarities of the larvae and when they pronounced Eiverfütterung ( Oophagie ). Among these features, the enlarged part, adapted to the Oophagie mouth field with the pronounced horn beak and enlarged Marginalpapillen. Molecular biological form a species apart from other genres remote clade.

Dissemination

The representatives of the genus Oophaga found only in Central America and in northwestern South America west of the Andes, so in western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. Thus, their range covers with which the sheet Steiger ( Phyllobates ), both species have a distribution gap in eastern Panama. Both genera probably originated about 10 million years ago by the wrinkling of the Andes and hiked 3.5 million years ago in the newly formed Central America.

The Granulated Woodcreeper ( Oophaga granulifera ), the most primitive type of Oophaga, was as much as Phyllobates vittatus to the very early introduced species and was in their area of ​​distribution on the Osa Peninsula (Costa Rica) by dry forests and high mountain chain isolated. A later migration to Central America took place along the Caribbean coast, emerged from the other under the Erdbeerfroeschchen ( Oophaga pumilio ) and Oophaga arborea.

Way of life

All species are active during the day in the leaf litter of their forest habitats and feed on small insects such as ants or termites.

The larvae are distributed after hatching on small water accumulations in plants ( phytotelmata ) and fed by the mother alone with unfertilized eggs. This behavior is eponymous for the genus and established besides the already mentioned features of the larvae and the molecular biological characteristics of the monophyly of the group. Also common is the types of typical chirping call.

System

Oophaga was spun off as a separate genus in 1994 by L. Bauer of the genus Dendrobates. Scientifically, this separation was only with the revision of the entire family by Grant et al. Duly justified and approved in 2006. This was followed by Grant et al. the authors Silverstone 1975 and Myers, Dany and Martinez 1984, had the species now included in the genus already described as a distinct species groups within the genus Dendrobates.

The type species of the genus is Oophaga pumilio. All species previously belonged to the genus Dendrobates and were appropriately structured as a separate taxon and compared to this, and the newly created genus Dendrobates as sister taxon. Together, these three genera in turn the sister taxon of Minyobates, Phyllobates and Ranitomeya within the Dendrobatinae dar.

The genus currently contains 9 valid species:

• Oophaga arborea ( Myers, Daly & Martínez, 1984)
• Granulated Woodcreeper ( Oophaga granulifera (Taylor, 1958) )
• Harlequin Poison Frog ( Oophaga histrionica (Berthold, 1845) )
• Lehmann's poison frog ( Oophaga lehmanni ( Myers & Daly, 1976) )
• Oophaga occultator ( Myers & Daly, 1976)
• Erdbeerfroeschchen ( Oophaga pumilio ( Schmidt, 1857) )
• Oophaga speciosa ( Schmidt, 1857)
• Forest tree Steiger ( Oophaga sylvatica ( Funkhouser, 1956) )
• Oophaga vicentei ( spinster Weygoldt & Juraske, 1996)