antonsrkn
Ranitomeya imitator Tadpole
Mimic Poison Frog tadpole (Ranitomeya imitator) - San Martin Department, Peru
Admittedly not the greatest photo but one that I had to get creative in order to get. I'm here in Peru researching Ranitomeya imitator, the first phase of my project involves mapping out the territories of various pairs of R. imitator and I was lucky to come across this and other tadpoles during my observations of the adults. To begin, some background info on the life history of Ranitomeya imitator: these frogs form monogamous relationships and have an advanced parental care system. After eggs hatch the male frog will carry the tadpoles to various phytotelmata, pools of water that form in plants. These pools (phytotelmata) may include things like waterlogged tree holes but this species atleast seems particularly fond of leaf axils especially those of Dieffenbachia plants. Ranitomeya imitator uses smaller waterpools to deposit their young than other species of dendrobatid which gives their offspring a competitor/predator free environment to grow in. However the drawback to growing up in a thimbleful of water is that there are typically not enough nutrients present for the tadpole to feed itself, and that is when the parental care plays a further role. The males routinely check up on sites where they have deposited tadpoles and when the tadpole signals hunger the male will fetch the female who will lay an unfertilized trophic egg into the tadpole's pool. The tadpole gains nourishment from the egg and continues its development, this process must be repeated many times over the several month course of development. If you look carefully you can see one of the trophic eggs behind this young tadpole.
As I mentioned before this was a tricky shot to get, the Dieffenbachia that this tadpole was located in was within a dense thicket that I climbed into. It was also one of many axils however the only one on this particular plant containing a tadpole, the others were simply in the way when trying to get this shot. I also had to play around with different lighting techniques in order to get a shot I was content with. Tough but enjoyable, while I'm no wholly satisfied with the result I'm overall pleased with the image and look forward to continuing to refine my methods and get more shots of this little one and others development.
Ranitomeya imitator Tadpole
Mimic Poison Frog tadpole (Ranitomeya imitator) - San Martin Department, Peru
Admittedly not the greatest photo but one that I had to get creative in order to get. I'm here in Peru researching Ranitomeya imitator, the first phase of my project involves mapping out the territories of various pairs of R. imitator and I was lucky to come across this and other tadpoles during my observations of the adults. To begin, some background info on the life history of Ranitomeya imitator: these frogs form monogamous relationships and have an advanced parental care system. After eggs hatch the male frog will carry the tadpoles to various phytotelmata, pools of water that form in plants. These pools (phytotelmata) may include things like waterlogged tree holes but this species atleast seems particularly fond of leaf axils especially those of Dieffenbachia plants. Ranitomeya imitator uses smaller waterpools to deposit their young than other species of dendrobatid which gives their offspring a competitor/predator free environment to grow in. However the drawback to growing up in a thimbleful of water is that there are typically not enough nutrients present for the tadpole to feed itself, and that is when the parental care plays a further role. The males routinely check up on sites where they have deposited tadpoles and when the tadpole signals hunger the male will fetch the female who will lay an unfertilized trophic egg into the tadpole's pool. The tadpole gains nourishment from the egg and continues its development, this process must be repeated many times over the several month course of development. If you look carefully you can see one of the trophic eggs behind this young tadpole.
As I mentioned before this was a tricky shot to get, the Dieffenbachia that this tadpole was located in was within a dense thicket that I climbed into. It was also one of many axils however the only one on this particular plant containing a tadpole, the others were simply in the way when trying to get this shot. I also had to play around with different lighting techniques in order to get a shot I was content with. Tough but enjoyable, while I'm no wholly satisfied with the result I'm overall pleased with the image and look forward to continuing to refine my methods and get more shots of this little one and others development.