Zimmerman's poison frog
Zimmermann's poison frog ("Ranitomeya variabilis"), also referred to as the variable poison frog, is a small species of poison dart frog known from the upper Huallaga River drainage of San Martín Region, Peru. It also occurs in western Brazil (Amazonas), Colombia (Amazonas, Caquetá, Putumayo and Vaupés), Ecuador (Morona-Santiago, Napo, Orellana, Pastaza and Sucumbíos). It is semi-arboreal, living in the forest understory and canopy. Like other poison frogs, it contains alkaloid poisons. The mimic poison frog is a Müllerian mimic of this species. The species was formerly considered to be synonym of "Ranitomeya ventrimaculata . Parental care and competition. Ranitomeya variabilis" has male-only parental care and there seems to be no pair bonding with frequent partner switching. Instead, pairs of mates deposit the eggs in small water filled cavities (phytotelma) in plants. Later as the tadpoles are hatching the male carries them on his back individually into separate phytotelma; tadpoles are separated because they are cannibalistic. The male is able to distinguish which phytotelma have other offspring by using chemical cues therefore assuring that multiple offspring are not placed in the same phytotelma. However, in other cases parental care has been non-existent forcing  competition amongst siblings in food resources but also survival. Tadpoles typically feed on each other, other eggs, or nearby food. Additional evidence of competition has been seen in tadpoles which, when left alone in a phytotelma, would actively approach a frog in order to out-compete the other tadpoles in leaving the phytotelma.