From the Bocas Del Toro Archipelago, Panama
Journal of Herpetology, Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 1–8, 2004 Copyright 2004 Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles Cross-Breeding of Distinct Color Morphs of the Strawberry Poison Frog (Dendrobates pumilio) from the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama 1,2,3 4 5 K. SUMMERS, T. W. CRONIN, AND T. KENNEDY 1Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina 27858, USA 2Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 2072, Balboa, Republic of Panama 4Department of Biology, University of Maryland at Baltimore County, Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, Maryland 21250, USA 5Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2K6, Canada ABSTRACT.—Populations ascribed to Dendrobates pumilio, the Strawberry Poison Frog, show extreme variation in color and color pattern among island and mainland locations in the Bocas del Toro Archipelago in Panama. Previous analyses indicate that these different populations are probably members of a single species. Here we present data on crosses between several different color and color pattern morphs. Successful crosses were made between different morphs from seven populations: Bocas Island, Nancy Cay, Pope Island, Bastimentos Island, and Almirante, Rambala and the Aguacate Peninsula on the mainland. The resulting offspring were characterized for color and color pattern. Our study indicates that different color morphs can interbreed to produce viable offspring. The offspring typically displayed a mixture of colors but always showed color pattern if one parent showed color pattern. This suggests that color pattern is under single locus control with dominance, whereas coloration may be under polygenic control, or may represent a single locus system with incomplete dominance. One of the most dramatic examples of color a preliminary investigation of the inheritance of and color pattern polymorphism within a puta- color and color pattern in these populations.
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