Oophaga sylvatica
Oophaga sylvatica, sometimes known as its Spanish name diablito, is a species of frog in the family Dendrobatidae found in Southwestern Colombia and Northwestern Ecuador. Its natural habitat is lowland and submontane rainforest; it can, however, survive in moderately degraded areas, at least in the more humid parts of its range. It is a very common frog in Colombia, but has disappeared from much of its Ecuadorian range. It is threatened by habitat loss (deforestation) and agricultural pollution. It is sometimes seen in the international pet trade. This species occurs in several color morphs. For example, the Bilsa  Biological Station (operated by the Jatun Sacha Foundation) boasts three color morphs—red, yellow, and orange—within their 3000-ha protected area located within Ecuador's Mache and Chindul coastal mountain ranges. Toxins. "Oophaga sylvatica" feed on insects such as ants and mites that contain lipophilic alkaloid toxins, and these toxins are then absorbed by the frog and used as a defense mechanism. These frogs cannot produce the toxins by themselves. Proteomic profiling has revealed that the livers of these frogs produce high levels of specialized proteins like saxiphilin that may be involved in alkaloid sequestration. Ingesting lipophilic alkaloids  causes a dramatic increase in saxiphilin expression in the skin and liver of the frog. Saxiphilin protein is likely involved in helping to transport the alkaloids from the digestive tract to the skin, where they are used in defense. "Oophaga sylvatica" can sequester alkaloids in just 4 days compared to weeks in some other dendrobatid species such as the golden poison frog. The alkaloids also cause them to give off vibrant colors. Deforestation can cause dietary changes in frog populations that live in deforested pastureland compared to frogs that live in the rainforest. The diet of pastureland frogs has a  much smaller variety of alkaloids in it due to a reduced variety of ants, mites, and termites available to feed on compared to rainforest frogs. This translates to a reduced variety of alkaloids being sequestered in the pastureland frogs for their own defenses. References. 6. Lauren A. O’Connell, Jeremy D.O’Connell, Joao A. Paulo, Sunia A. Trauger, Steven P. Gygi, Andrew W. Murray, Rapid toxin sequestration impacts poison frog physiology, LS50: Integrated Science Laboratory Course, bioRxiv 2020.05.27.119081; doi: <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.27.119081</nowiki> 7. Nora A. Moskowitz, Barbara Dorritie, Tammy Fay, Olivia C. Nieves, Charles Vidoudez, Cambridge Rindge Latin 2017 Biology  Class, Masconomet 2017 Biotechnology Class, Eva K. Fischer, Sunia A. Trauger, Luis A. Coloma, David A. Donoso & Lauren A. O’Connell(2020), Land use impacts poison frog chemical defenses through changes in leaf litter ant communities, Neotropical Biodiversity, 6:1, 75–87, DOI: 10.1080/23766808.2020.1744957