New Poison Dart Frog Species Discovered in Panama

Posted on September 26, 2014

A new poison dart frog species has been discovered in west central Panama. A holotype of the new species, Andinobates geminisae, is pictured above. The frog was first discovered in Donoso, Panama in 2011.

The frog is described in Zootaxa by a team researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, the Universidad Autonoma de Chiriquí and the Universidad de los Andes. The researchers say the frog has "uniformly orange smooth skin" over its entire body. It also looks a little reddish in the photograph.

The researchers say the frog is smaller than other colorful poison dart frogs in the region. The tiny frog is only 12.7 millimeters long according to National Geographic. This may be what helped keep the frog from being discovered earlier. NatGeo also says one of the new dart frogs was discovered carrying a tadpole on its frog, which indicates it may care for its young.

Smithsonian herpetologist Cesar Jaramillo said in the announcement, "Abel Batista and Marcos Ponce were the first to note the presence of this species. They've known it was there for several years. However, they were not sure if it was only a variety of another poison dart frog species, Oophaga pumilio, which exhibits tremendous color variation. Based on morphological characteristics of the adult and the tadpole, I thought it might be a new species of Andinobates."

The researchers are recommending that special conservation plans be established to ensure the frog's survival. Risks to the species include habitat loss and the pet trade.

ANIMALS