Phyllobates vittatus
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The Golfodulcean poison frog or Golfodulcean poison-arrow frog (Phyllobates vittatus) is a species of frog in the family Dendrobatidae endemic to Costa Rica. Like all members of the genus Phyllobates, Golfodulcean poison frogs have highly potent neurotoxic alkaloid poisons in their skin. The neurotoxin is called batrachotoxin and the P. vittatius and P. ligubris are considered non-toxic because they have low concentrations of this alkaloid. (Protti‐Sánchez et al., 2019). While it is only the fourth-most toxic of the genus, the Golfodulcean poison frog is still a highly toxic animal. Its poison causes severe pain, followed by tonic-clonic seizures and paralysis if a large enough dose of the toxin is administered. The frog, for protection, advertises its toxin with its multi-coloured body. Because it is of comparatively large size for a poison dart frog, the Golfodulcean poison frog can store a large amount of poison in its skin. Captive examples lack the toxin, which suggests they do not manufacture the poison themselves, but instead acquire it from a species of insect or other small invertebrate on which they feed.
Scientists have not determined the batrachotoxin source... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Corcovado National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Piedras Blancas National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ZooParc de Beauval | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Ostrava Zoo | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 3 | Tulsa Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Muséum de Besançon | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Zoo Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Tallinn Zoo | 🇪🇪 Estonia | |
| 7 | Toledo Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | San Francisco Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Fort Worth Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Wilhelma | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 11 | Zoo Opole | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 12 | Zoo Atlanta | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Rosamond Gifford Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | John Ball Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Biotropica | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 16 | Henry Vilas Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 18 | The Living Planet Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 19 | Zoo Băneasa | 🇷🇴 Romania | |
| 20 | Elmwood Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 21 | Greenville Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 22 | Zoo Linz | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 23 | Curiosity Farms | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 24 | Wonders of Wildlife Museum & Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 25 | Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 26 | Blue Planet Aquarium | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 27 | Sea Life Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 28 | akwarium warszawskiego ZOO | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 29 | Indraloka Animal Sanctuary | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 30 | Monteverde Theme Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 31 | Sea Life Arizona | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Golfo Dulce Poison-Dart Frog sighting in Piedras Blancas National Park on a given day, based on 73 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 26th most-seen of the 33 amphibians we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July–September and November
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Golfo Dulce Poison-Dart Frog in Piedras Blancas National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October, the lowest month. Those are among Piedras Blancas National Park's wettest months, with about 450 mm of rain a month against 55 mm in February.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Golfo Dulce Poison-Dart Frog sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 2
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Golfo Dulce Poison-Dart Frog sightings, Piedras Blancas National Park ranks 2nd at about 20%. The best odds are in Corcovado National Park (Costa Rica, about 30%).
Same family: Dendrobatidae
The closest relatives of the Golfo Dulce Poison-Dart Frog that you can see in Piedras Blancas National Park (family Dendrobatidae, Poison Dart Frogs) are Rainforest Rocket Frog (about 30%), Green and Black Dart-poison Frog (about 30%) and Granular Poison Frog (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Golfo Dulce Poison-Dart Frog is recorded against all the amphibians logged in Piedras Blancas National Park (73 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
