Excidobates captivus Myers and Daly 1982, redescribed in Twomey and Brown 2008

CALL
Distribution: Northwestern Peru, upper Rio Maranon drainage. Type locality is the mouth of Rio Santiago and Rio Maranon, near the Pongo de Manseriche. Recent discoveries have extended the known distribution over 100 km south into the Cordillera del Condor, not far from the type locality of E. mysteriosus. Likely occurs in southern Ecuador. Not known to inhabit montane regions. View type locality in Google Maps.
Ecology: This small species appears to be somewhat terrestrial. Courtship was observed in the leaf litter, and adults were most frequently found among the leaves or lower understory plants. Tadpoles are transported singly to Heliconia bracts. The habitat of this species is extremely wet and humid.
Phylogenetic status: This species is sister to E. mysteriosus and represents the second species in the newly-described Excidobates. This genus forms a clade sister to Ranitomeya.
Conservation status: Fragile. Although the distribution of this species is larger than previously thought, it appears to be patchily distributed. Furthermore, this species was smuggled in March 2008 to Germany and was being sold at the Hamm reptile show. We urge people to NOT support smuggling activities and NOT purchase these frogs! There is currently NO LEGAL TRADE of this species!
Notes: This species was originally discovered by Harvey Bassler in the 1920s, who collected three specimens. Myers described these specimens in 1982 as Dendrobates captivus. An expedition in 2006 led to the rediscovery of this species and the first photographs and natural history information. Read about the expedition here.