Aromobates nocturnus
TAXONOMY
Aromobates nocturnus Myers Paolillo, and Daly, 1991, about 1.2 mi (2 km) airline east-southeast of Agua de Obispos, Trujillo, Venezuela.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
None known.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
The Venezuelan skunk frog is large compared with other dendrobatids; females may reach 2.5 in (62 mm) in snout-vent length. This species derives its generic name from the production of a particularly noxious substance that has a skunklike odor but which has defied analysis. The substance is not toxic and is not an alkaloid, like the chemicals found in the skin of advanced dendrobatids, but the noxious odor, released by the frog upon being handled, is sufficient to protect it from predators.
DISTRIBUTION
The Venezuelan skunk frog is known only from the type locality in northwestern Venezuela.
HABITAT
This species occurs in small streams and rivulets in dense Andean cloud forest at an elevation of 7,382 ft (2,250 m).
BEHAVIOR
The species is entirely nocturnal, in contrast to all other species of dendrobatids. Also in contrast to all other dendrobatids, the Venezuelan skunk frog is strictly aquatic, found only by small streams, usually sitting or swimming in water.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
No information is available on the diet or feeding, but individuals sitting out at night readily took insects tossed to them. They probably feed strictly on small insects and arthropods, like most other frogs.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Individuals have not been observed calling, and no information is available on reproduction.
CONSERVATION STATUS
The range of this species probably is restricted to a small area; thus, disturbance of the area could have a severe impact on populations of these frogs.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
This frog, discovered only in the early 1980s, is significant because of its basal position in the poison frog family. It may offer clues to the relationship of poison frogs to other families of frogs. Its discovery illustrates how much remains to be discovered about tropical frogs.
