Phyllobates
Phyllobates is a genus of poison dart frogs native to Central and South America, from Nicaragua to Colombia. There are 3 different Colombian species of Phyllobates. These frogs are an endangered, yet toxic species due to the poison they contain. Phyllobates located in countries such as Costa Rica and Panama are not known to be toxic, as those in Central America.
Phyllobates contains the most poisonous species of frog, the golden poison frog. They are typical of the poison dart frogs, in that all species have bright warning coloration, and have varying degrees of toxicity. Only species of Phyllobates are used by natives of South American tribes as sources of poison for their hunting darts. The most toxic of the many poisonous alkaloids these frogs emit from their skins is batrachotoxin, alongside a wide variety of other toxic compounds.
Taxonomy
Phyllobates used to contain many of the species which are now within the genus Ranitomeya. However, it now just contains those six members within the Phyllobates bicolor species group. These are:| Group | Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
| P. lugubris species group | Lovely poison frog | Phyllobates lugubris | southeastern Nicaragua through Costa Rica to northwestern Panama | |
| P. lugubris species group | Golfodulcean poison frog | Phyllobates vittatus | Costa Rica. | |
| P. bicolor species group | black-legged poison frog | Phyllobates bicolor | Chocó area in western Colombia | |
| P. bicolor species group | Kokoe Poison Frog | Phyllobates aurotaenia | Pacific coast of Colombia | |
| P. bicolor species group | Phyllobates sp. aff. aurotaenia | |||
| P. bicolor species group | Golden poison frog | Phyllobates terribilis | Pacific coast of Colombia. |
All these different species within the genus exhibit a diversity in color. Some examples are, P. terribilis, with color morphs of "mint", "yellow", and "orange". P. vittatus, another example, is always black as a ground color, but can show yellow stripes, orange stripes, red stripes, and turquoise, green, or blue legs, etc. The bicolor dart frog can range from yellow to orange, from black legs to green legs, to almost a uniform color of any of the aforementioned color morphs. P. aurotaenia specimens are yellow-banded or orange. They are always smaller than P. vittatus, and beyond locality, this is the best way to differentiate between the two in the field or in the hobby.