Phyllobates aurotaenia

The Kokoe poison frog (Phyllobates aurotaenia) is a frog.  It lives in  Colombia.

Body
The adult male frog is about 32 mm long from nose to rear end and the adult female frog is about 35 mm long.  The skin of the frog's back is black in color. It has two stripes on its back, from its nose to its back legs. The tops of the legs have spots. The spots can be orange, gold, blue, or green. The skin of the belly is black in color with blue or green spots.

Home
This frog is awake during the day. This frog lives on the ground in forests that have never been cut down and forests that were cut down but are growing back. People have seen this frog between 60 and 1000 meters above sea level.

Young
The female frog lays eggs on dead leaves on the ground. After the eggs hatch, the male frog carries the tadpoles to pools of water in streams.

Young frogs are black with gold stripes. They have blue or green spots on their bellies.

Poison
This frog has batrachotoxin poison in its skin. Chocó Indians catch the frog to use the poison on the tools they use to hunt. Sometimes they touch the arrow or other tool to the frog's back. Other times, they kill and cook the frog.

Danger
Scientists believe this frog is not in danger of dying out but it is in some danger. People cut down trees to make farms, to dig good rocks out of the ground, and get wood to build with. Chemicals that people use to make crops grow or kill pets can kill this frog. Fish that human beings brought to Colombia also kill and eat this frog.

People do sell this frog as a pet, but scientists say this is not a danger. People raise this frog in glass cages, and most pets were never wild frogs.  

At least one of the places this frog lives is a protected park: Utría National Park.

References

Category:Frogs of South America