Friday, September 16, 2005

Strawberry poison-dart frog in bromeliad



Strawberry poison-dart frog in bromeliad. Dendrobates pumilio, the strawberry poison dart frog, is common in the Atlantic lowland tropical forests of Central America especially Costa Rica. Dendrobates pumilio is well known for its parental care. The female typically lays 3 to 5 eggs in a jelly-like mass that keeps them moist and both parents visit the eggs to ensure their survival. Once the eggs are ready to hatch, one of the parenst steps into the jelly-like mass, freeing the tadpoles. The tadpoles respond to the movement and climb onto the parent's back, where they adhere to a mucus secretion. The parent then carries the tadpoles to up the canopy where they are often deposited in water caught in the upturned leaves of bromeliads. Each tapdole is deposited in a separate pool to increase the likelihood that some offspring will survive predators.

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