Epipedobates

Epipedobates is a genus of poison dart frogs native to northern South America (Colombia and Ecuador) west of the Andes, including the western slopes. Common name phantasmal poison frogs has been suggested for the genus.^[1]

Epipedobates
Epipedobates tricolor
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Dendrobatidae
Subfamily:	Colostethinae
Genus:	Epipedobates Myers, 1987
Type species
Prostherapis tricolor Boulenger, 1899
Diversity
7 species (see text)

Taxonomy

Epipedobates was erected in 1987 in an attempt to split dendrobatids into monophyletic genera, accommodating species that had until then been placed in Phyllobates. In the major revision of poison dart frogs in 2006, most of the species formerly placed in Epipedobates were then transferred to Ameerega, leaving behind just five species.^[2] The species count of Epipedobates had increased to seven by early 2024.^[1]

Description

Dorsal colouration is cryptic, brown. A pale oblique lateral stripe is present. Dorsal skin is smooth or with irregularly scattered granules or tubercles, most distinct and prevalent posteriorly. In adult males, third finger is swollen.^[2]

Species

There are seven species:^[1][3]

Image	Scientific name	Common name	Distribution
	Epipedobates anthonyi (Noble, 1921) [4]	Anthony's poison arrow frog	Ecuador and Peru.
	Epipedobates boulengeri (Barbour, 1909)[5][6]	marbled poison frog or marbled poison-arrow frog	Colombia (Cauca, Nariño, Valle del Cauca Departments, including Gorgona Island) and northwestern Ecuador
	Epipedobates espinosai (Funkhouser, 1956) [7]		Ecuador
	Epipedobates machalilla (Coloma, 1995) [8]		West Ecuador
	Epipedobates maculatus (Peters, 1873)	Confusing Poison Frog	Panama
	Epipedobates narinensis (Mueses-Cisneros, Cepeda-Quilindo, and Moreno-Quintero, 2008)[9]		Colombia
	Epipedobates tricolor (Boulenger, 1899) [10]	Phantasmal poison frog	Ecuador