| Dendrobates imitator | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Suborder: | Neobatrachia |
| Family: | Dendrobatidae |
| Genus: | Ranitomeya |
| Species: | R. imitator |
| Binomial name | |
| Ranitomeya imitator (Schulte, 1986) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Ranitomeya imitator Frost, et al; 2006 |
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Ranitomeya imitator (formerly Dendrobates imitator) is a type of poison dart frog found in the north-central region of eastern Peru.
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Ranitomeya imitator and related frogs exhibit a degree of parental care, with the female laying feeder eggs for the tadpoles to eat. However, unlike the Strawberry Poison-dart Frog and related species, this behavior is not required and tadpoles can survive on invertebrates, algae, and detritus.
This frog is the first amphibian species in which the sexual partners have been shown to be monogamous.[2]
There are no subspecies of R. imitator recognized. Instead, across Peru there are several races (or morphs) of the species, which differ by imitating the appearance of another small dart frog species in each race's locale.[3] This is an example of Müllerian mimicry. In the dart frog hobby, some hobbyists have erroneously attributed subspecies status to one or more of these races. These hobbyist-assigned names are not scientifically valid.
The Imitator Poison-dart Frog is generally considered to be one of the easier thumbnail group frogs to care for.