The search for Excidobates mysteriosus

Although not a Ranitomeya species, we made in our trip to Peru, a considerable effort to find a specific dart frog called Excidobates mysteriosus, the Marañón poison frog.

They are found in very specific locations, at altitudes of 900-1300 metres, and only on rock walls covered with Tillandsia carnosa (Santa Rosa area) or Tillandsia ecarinata (Pedro Ruiz area). These Tillandsias grow up to one metre wide and thrive on rock walls. These rock walls can become hot in the summer (above 30ºC) and cold at night (13-15ºC). The water in the leaf axils provides the frogs with shelter and probably also a more stable temperature gradient.

Together with our guide Josh Allen from Andes2Amazon, we found two morphs of Excidobates mysteriosus: the "nominal morph", with a chocolate-brown back and large white spots, and a “fine spotted” morph, with a more dark brown back and smaller bluish-white spots. Really lovely frogs. We noticed that, unlike Ranitomeya, they do not jump when disturbed but instead crawl away on the rock walls, seeking shelter in the Tillandsia.

The first habitat of the “fine spotted” morph is high up in the mountains in the Pedro Ruiz area in Amazonas, Peru.

Habitat of Excidobates mysteriosus "fine spotted" morph

The second habitat of the "nominal" morph is near Santa Rosa, Amazonas in a protected place called El Tupire.

Top left the "fine spotted" morph and the other three are the "nominal" morph.

What a beatiful frog to see in his habitat!