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Aim: Aposematic animals, i.e., those that are defended and warn potential predators through signals, are suggested to have resource‐gathering advantages against non‐aposematic ones. We here explore this in a biogeographic framework expecting that aposematic species are better dispersers, which translates into larger geographic range size. Location: South America. Taxon: Poison frogs (Amphibia; Aromobatidae and Dendrobatidae). Methods: We use 43 toxic and 26 non‐toxic poison frog species from the lowlands only as representatives of aposematic and non‐aposematic study organisms, respectively. Realised and potential geographic ranges are calculated using minimum convex polygon and species distribution modelling methods, respectively. Accounting for species body size and phylogeny, we test if both range and aposematism are correlated using linear mixed‐effects models. Results: Aposematic and non‐aposematic species neither differ in realised nor in potential geographic range size. There was no effect on body size. Main Conclusions: The role of aposematism is not yet as clear as suggested and determinants of poison frog range sizes are multifaceted. A more integrative approach is needed using the information on behaviour, predation risk, and reproductive biology to assess the role of aposematism on observed species distributions. Such data are not yet available for most species, neither poison frogs nor other aposematic animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eleutherodactylus olivaceus sp. n., amember of the E. unistrigatus group is described. The new speciesis known from montane rainforests of the Departamento Cochabamba, Bolivia,as well as from lowland rainforest of the Departamento Madre de Dios, Perú. E. olivaceus is mainly characterized by its predominantly olive greendorsal color and a papilla on the tip of the snout. Advertisement call andhabitat of E. olivaceus are described. The occurrence of Eleutherodactylusmendax in Bolivia is briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We present the first comprehensive phylogeny for the poison frog Ameerega from genome-scale data. • There is evidence for at least six undescribed species of Ameerega. • Our phylogenetic reconstruction of Ameerega differs strongly from previously published ones. • Ameerega almost certainly has its origins in the Andes Mountains. • Ameerega most likely diverged from its sister taxon ~20 million years ago. The Amazonian poison frog genus Ameerega is one of the largest yet most understudied of the brightly colored genera in the anuran family Dendrobatidae, with 30 described species ranging throughout tropical South America. Phylogenetic analyses of Ameerega are highly discordant, lacking consistency due to variation in data types and methods, and often with limited coverage of species diversity in the genus. Here, we present a comprehensive phylogenomic reconstruction of Ameerega , utilizing state-of-the-art sequence capture techniques and phylogenetic methods. We sequenced thousands of ultraconserved elements from over 100 tissue samples, representing almost every described Ameerega species, as well as undescribed cryptic diversity. We generated topologies using maximum likelihood and coalescent methods and compared the use of maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods for estimating divergence times. Our phylogenetic inference diverged strongly from those of previous studies, and we recommend steps to bring Ameerega taxonomy in line with the new phylogeny. We place several species in a phylogeny for the first time, as well as provide evidence for six potential candidate species. We estimate that Ameerega experienced a rapid radiation approximately 7–11 million years ago and that the ancestor of all Ameerega was likely an aposematic, montane species. This study underscores the utility of phylogenomic data in improving our understanding of the phylogeny of understudied clades and making novel inferences about their evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]