Distance-dependent defensive coloration in the poison frog Dendrobates tinctorius, Dendrobatidae.

ABSTRACT: Poison dart frogs provide classic examples of warning signals: potent toxins signaled by distinctive, conspicuous coloration. We show that, counterintuitively, the bright yellow and blue-black color of Dendrobates tinctorius (Dendrobatidae) also provides camouflage. Through computational modeling of predator vision, and a screen-based detection experiment presenting frogs at different spatial resolutions, we demonstrate that at close range the frog is highly detectable, but from a distance the colors blend together, forming effective camouflage. This result was corroborated with an in situ experiment, which found survival to be background-dependent, a feature more associated with camouflage than aposematism. Our results suggest that in D. tinctorius the distribution of patter

SUBMITTER: Barnett JB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6016827 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature