Dendrobates Tinctorius The Dyeing Poison Frog
4' x6', Acrylic on Canvas
$2,000.00
©1996
This is one of the hardiest and most brightly colored of all the Poison Frogs. They are 34 to 50mm long and smooth skinned. This species was introduced to Europeans over 200 years ago and today is found only in the humid forests of the Guianas, being found in French Guiana, Surinam, and British Guiana on the northeastern shoulder of South America. They can't be found south of the Amazon basin. No two species are exactly alike. They are typically blue-black frogs with strong yellow, yellow-white, or blue-white patterns.Usually the back from the snout to over the tail is yellow, the sides are black, and the belly is either black or yellow, with our without a dark or light spotted and reticulated pattern.
The Blue Poisson frog is very similar to this species but can be told apart by the hunchback posture of the Blue Poisson frog which Dendrobates Tinctorius does not share. All of these species are under threat from development and overcollecting by hobbyists.
It is usually found in leaf litter but has greatly expanded finger discs and is a good climber. It can often be found on the sides of trees and in heavy vines 1 or 2 meters above the ground, where its bright yellow stripes stand out in the darkness of the forest. The bright color advertises its poisonous nature, and it has few predators. Its diet consists mostly of ants, just like the other poison frogs.
Variations of the species have been found in northern Brazil, French Guiana, the Table Mountains in Surinam, and French Guiana. Because they are large and colorful, and quite hardy in captivity, this species is often sought after by collectors. The word Dyeing refers to the common and scientific names of this frog. For over two centuries there have been legends that Amerindians of various tribes in the Guianas and the Amazon used animal concoctions of various types to change the plain green feathers of parrots into red feathers. Dendrobates tinctorius was the frog used in the Guianas to produce the color change, a technique called tapirage. The living frog or a tincture of frog skin and blood was rubbed on the selected area of the parrot where a color change was wanted. The parrot had to be young, and its original green feathers had to be plucked. When the new feathers grew in, they would magically be bright red or perhaps yellow. Since the feathers became dyed, the name stuck. Scientists have yet to prove this theory true.