Ranitomeya defleri Twomey & Brown 2009

Diagnosis: Distinguishable from all other dendrobatids by its color pattern: black dorsum and head with irregular yellow blotches behind the eyes, irregular yellow head markings, a pale yellow-green vertebral stripe on the posterior 2/3 of the dorsum, and paired yellow dorsolateral dashes; yellow hourglass figure on underside of chin; black limbs and venter with darker blue reticulation creating round black spots on the limbs and irregular blotches on the venter. Call is a longer, slower, more paced buzz that can be distinguished from the more rapid buzzing call of nearby R. ventrimaculata (Twomey and Brown 2009).Description: Adult males measure 15.3-17.7 mm SVL. Head slightly narrower than the body. Rounded canthus rostralis with an almost flat and vertical loreal region. Tympanum is round and partially concealed. Ovoid tongue. No maxillary or premaxillary teeth. Relatively large hands with Finger I noticeably shorter than Finger II. Finger discs are moderately expanded with disc on finger III to be moderately larger. Scutes on dorsal surfaces of fingers. Both fingers and toes lack webbing and lateral fringing. Hind limbs are moderately long (adpressed heel reaches the eye) and the tibia may be longer or shorter than the femur. Toe I is short with an unexpanded disc, while Toe II has a slightly expanded disc and Toes III-V have moderately expanded discs. Tarsal keel begins below ankle and continues, becoming medial metatarsal tubercle. Tarsal tubercle lacking. Smooth dorsal skin (Twomey and Brown 2009).Coloration in life: Black dorsum and head with irregular yellow blotches behind the eyes, irregular yellow head markings, a pale yellow-green vertebral stripe on the posterior 2/3 of the dorsum, and paired yellow dorsolateral dashes; yellow hourglass figure on underside of chin; black limbs and venter with darker blue reticulation creating round black spots on the limbs and irregular blotches on the venter (Twomey and Brown 2009).Coloration in preservative, black head with large and pale yellow dorsolateral speckles behind each eye. A yellow spot lies on the tip of the snout and a thin yellow stripe lies just anterior to the eyes. Black dorsum with a thin irregular yellowish-gray vertebral stripe extends from the vent towards the eye. Black iris (Twomey and Brown 2009).At stage 29, the total length of a single collected tadpole specimen is 19.6 mm, while the body length is 7.1 mm and the body width is 4.4 mm. The body appears gray and ovoid with irregular yellow markings. The snout is rounded with nares equidistant between eyes and snout tip. Eyes are black and conspicuous. Spiracle sinistral, vent dextral. Mouth anteroventral, with emarginate oral disc. Serrated jaw sheaths, with posterior sheath having a curved medial indentation. LTRF is 2(2)/3(1). White conical papillae are present. Submarginal papillae are lacking. A1 is complete while A2 has a broad medial gap. P1 has a narrow medial gap while P2 and P3 are complete. Short lateral processes which extend slightly past the lower jaw. Ventral fin starts at base of tail while dorsal fin begins just past vent opening; both fins are uniform height until they taper towards the tail tip (Twomey and Brown 2009). Tadpole coloration in life: gray ground color with conspicuous yellow dorsal markings. In preservative: mottled brown head and dorsum, white venter with tiny black melanophores. Pale brown gut visible through belly skin. Pale brown tail musculature, with translucent white fins, all having faint pale brown reticulation (Twomey and Brown 2009).R. defleri is named after Dr. Thomas Defler, who worked in Colombia for 32 years as a primatologist and founded the Estación Biológica Caparú. This field station has served many biologists working in Amazonian Colombia (Twomey and Brown 2009). In 2011, the genus Dendrobates was subdivided into seven genera, including the new genus Ranitomeya by Brown et al (2011).

Endemic to southeastern Colombia. Known from only two separated localities, 32 km apart: Caparú, on the north bank of Mosiro Itájura, Colombia at 98 m ASL, and the Puerto Córdoba, on the north bank of Río Caquetá at 68 m ASL. Forests in the Apaporis-Caquetá region are seasonally flooded and may present a southernmost limit to the distribution. Found in Caquetá Moist Forest: pristine, undisturbed primary forest with large trees, sparse understory, minimal light penetration and thick, wet leaf litter that covers the ground. Most woody surfaces are covered by moss. Average annual temperature is 25.1° C with an annual rainfall of 3836 mm; there is little seasonal variation in rainfall, with monthly rainfall averaging 319 mm and the driest month (September) having an average of 258 mm of rain (Twomey and Brown 2009).

The call is faint and consists of a series of buzz-like notes, made in bouts of 3-8, lasting on average 8.31 seconds per bout. The mean note length is 0.510 sec, with an interval of 1.44 sec and a dominant frequency is 5357 Hz (Twomey and Brown 2009). A tadpole was found in a water-containing slender, spiny bromeliad species (8" x 6") that occurs on the sides of trees. Bromeliads were scarce in the forest despite humid conditions (Twomey and Brown 2009).

This species appears to be rare (Twomey and Brown 2009).

Ranitomeya defleri​ es una especie de anfibio anuro de la familia Dendrobatidae.

Ranitomeya defleri est une espèce d'amphibiens de la famille des Dendrobatidae.

Ranitomeya defleri é uma espécie de anfíbio da família Dendrobatidae. Pode ser encontrado no sudeste da Colômbia nas drenagens dos rios Apaporis-Caquetá nos departamentos de Vaupés e Amazonas, e possivelmente ocorra na estado do Amazonas no Brasil.