Pongo Poison Frog (Ameerega pongoensis)

One of my all-time favorite poison frogs, the Pongo Poison Frog (Ameerega pongoensis) was described by my friend, Rainer Schulte, in 1999. This species lives at lower Andean elevations and has a relatively small range - elevation: 180-300m. The type locality is a stream in the Huallaga Canyon- north bank (Pongo de Aguirre). The Pongos are rocky gorges where rivers cut through the mountain chains of East Peru. These frogs are difficult to see in the wild and masters of life in the leaf litter. They are small, agile, and shy. Their call is a distinctive whistle, repeated at intervals. Males are smaller than females. The flank and venter color are variable according to the particular population within the range of the species. Some populations have blue flanks.