Aromobatidae

The Aromobatidae are a family of frogs native to Central and South America.^[2][3][4] They are sometimes referred to as cryptic forest frogs or cryptic poison frogs.^[2] They are the sister taxon of the Dendrobatidae, the poison dart frogs, but are not as toxic as most dendrobatids are.^[1][4]

Aromobatidae
Allobates femoralis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Superfamily:	Dendrobatoidea
Family:	Aromobatidae Grant [fr; es], Frost, Caldwell, Gagliardo, Haddad [fr], Kok, Means, Noonan, Schargel, and Wheeler [fr], 2006[1]
Subfamilies and genera
Anomaloglossinae Grant et al., 2006 Anomaloglossus Rheobates Aromobatinae Grant et al., 2006 Aromobates Mannophryne Allobatinae Grant et al., 2006 Allobates

Taxonomy

The Aromobatidae were separated from the Dendrobatidae only in 2006,^[1] and some sources continue to treat these frogs as part of the Dendrobatidae.^[5] However, their position as the sister taxa is well supported, and the question is primarily about whether they should be ranked as a family or a subfamily.^[3]

The validity of subfamilies within the Aromobatidae is also unsettled. Some evidence points to paraphyly of at least the subfamily Anomaloglossinae, and genus Allobates, largely because of the uncertain placement of Allobates olfersioides.^[2][3]

Some species are reported to have a skunk like odor. This strong odor is secreted through the skin but theses frogs are not toxic. This strong odor is used as a defense mechanism against predators.^[5]

Reproduction

Many aromobatids deposit small clutches of eggs in terrestrial nests. After hatching, one of the parents transports the tadpoles to a small water body, where they complete their development to metamorphosis.^[4]

Anomaloglossus stepheni, Anomaloglossus degranvillei, Allobates chalcopis, and Allobates nidicola are four aromobatid species that have non-feeding tadpoles.^[4]

Subfamilies and species

By late 2019, 126 species in three subfamilies and five genera had been described:^[2]

• Allobatinae Grant, Frost, Caldwell, Gagliardo, Haddad, Kok, Means, Noonan, Schargel, and Wheeler, 2006 (55 spp.)
  • Allobates Zimmermann and Zimmermann, 1988 (55 spp.)
• Anomaloglossinae Grant, Frost, Caldwell, Gagliardo, Haddad, Kok, Means, Noonan, Schargel, and Wheeler, 2006 (32 spp.)
  • Anomaloglossus Grant, Frost, Caldwell, Gagliardo, Haddad, Kok, Means, Noonan, Schargel, and Wheeler, 2006 (30 spp.)
  • Rheobates Grant, Frost, Caldwell, Gagliardo, Haddad, Kok, Means, Noonan, Schargel, and Wheeler, 2006 (two spp.)
• Aromobatinae Grant, Frost, Caldwell, Gagliardo, Haddad, Kok, Means, Noonan, Schargel, and Wheeler, 2006 (38 spp.)
  • Aromobates Myers, Paolillo-O., and Daly, 1991 (18 spp.)
  • Mannophryne La Marca, 1992 (20 spp.)

In addition, "Prostherapis" dunni Rivero, 1961 is placed in this family, but its more precise placement is unknown; it might be an Aromobates.^[6]

Selected Aromobatidae species

• 
  Allobates talamancae
• 
  Anomaloglossus stepheni
• 
  Rheobates palmatus
• 
  Mannophryne trinitatis

References

1. Grant, Taran; Frost, Darrel R.; Caldwell, Janalee P.; Gagliardo, Ron; Haddad, Célio F.B.; Kok, Philippe J.R.; Means, D. Bruce; Noonan, Brice P.; Schargel, Walter E. & Wheeler, Ward C. (2006). "Phylogenetic systematics of dart-poison frogs and their relatives (Amphibia: Athesphatanura: Dendrobatidae)" (PDF). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 299: 1–262. doi:10.1206/0003-0090(2006)299[1:PSODFA]2.0.CO;2. S2CID 82263880. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-02-21.
2. Frost, Darrel R. (2019). "Aromobatidae Grant, Frost, Caldwell, Gagliardo, Haddad, Kok, Means, Noonan, Schargel, and Wheeler, 2006". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
3. Blackburn, D.C. & Wake, D.B. (2011). "Class Amphibia Gray, 1825. In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.) Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness" (PDF). Zootaxa. 3148: 39–55. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3148.1.8.
4. Vitt, Laurie J. & Caldwell, Janalee P. (2014). Herpetology: An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles (4th ed.). Academic Press. pp. 486–488.
5. "Dendrobatidae". AmphibiaWeb. University of California, Berkeley. 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
6. Frost, Darrel R. (2019). ""Prostherapis" dunni Rivero, 1961". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 19 December 2019.