Incredibly Colorful Ranitomeya Amazonica Discovered in Amazon
Posted on October 27, 2010
The Ranitomeya amazonica is one of the 1,200 new species of plants and vertebrates discovered in the Amazon biome between 1999 and 2009. A WWF report says that's a rate of one new species every three days. The new species outlined in Amazon Alive: A Decade of Discoveries 1999-2009 include 637 plants, 257 fish, 216 amphibians, 55 reptiles, 16 birds and 39 mammals.
Photographs of some of the recently discovered creatures can be found here. here and here.
The Ranitomeya amazonica frog - with an incredible burst of flames on its head and contrasting water-patterned legs - is one of the most extraordinary species discovered in the last decade. The poison dart frog's main habitat is near the Iquitos area in the region of Loreto, Peru, which is primary lowland moist forest. The frog, first discovered in 1999, has also been found in the Alpahuayo Mishana National Reserve in Peru.
Here is a video of a male Ranitomeya amazonica calling for females in a 40 gallon vertical tank. Take a look: