Editing Poison dart frog (section)

== Characteristics ==
[[File:Färberfrosch Dendrobates tinctorius.jpg|thumb|left|[[Dyeing poison dart frog]] (''Dendrobates tinctorius'')]]

Most species of poison dart frogs are small, sometimes less than {{convert|1.5|cm|in|abbr=on}} in adult length, although a few grow up to {{convert|6|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length. They weigh 1 oz. on average.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians/poison-frog/ | url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211130500/http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians/poison-frog/|archive-date=11 February 2010|title=Poison Dart Frog |author=[[National Geographic Society]] |work=National Geographic}}</ref> Most poison dart frogs are brightly colored, displaying [[Aposematism|aposematic patterns]] to warn potential predators. Their bright coloration is associated with their toxicity and levels of alkaloids. For example, frogs of the genus ''Dendrobates'' have high levels of alkaloids, whereas ''Colostethus'' species are [[Crypsis|cryptically colored]] and are not toxic.<ref name="Caldwell-1996"/>

Poison dart frogs are an example of an [[aposematism|aposematic]] organism. Their bright coloration advertises unpalatability to potential predators. Aposematism is currently thought to have originated at least four times within the poison dart family according to phylogenetic trees, and dendrobatid frogs have since undergone dramatic divergences – both interspecific and intraspecific – in their aposematic coloration. This is surprising given the frequency-dependent nature of this type of defense mechanism.<ref name=SantosEtAl03 /><ref name=j2>{{cite journal |last=Santos |first=J. C. |author2=D. C. Cannatella |title=Phenotypic integration emerges from aposematism and scale in poison frogs |journal=[[PNAS]] |year=2011 |volume=108 |pages=6175–6180 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1010952108 |issue=15 |pmid=21444790 |pmc=3076872 |bibcode=2011PNAS..108.6175S |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Adult frogs lay their eggs in moist places, including on leaves, in plants, among exposed roots, and elsewhere. Once the eggs hatch, the adult piggybacks the [[tadpole]]s, one at a time, to suitable water: either a pool, or the water gathered in the throat of [[bromeliad]]s or other plants. The tadpoles remain there until they [[metamorphose]], in some species fed by unfertilized eggs laid at regular intervals by the mother.<ref name=EoR>{{cite book |editor=Cogger, H.G. |editor2=Zweifel, R.G. |last=Zweifel |first=Robert G.|year=1998 |title=Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians |publisher=Academic Press |location=San Diego |pages=95–97 |isbn=978-0-12-178560-4}}</ref>