Two-toned poison frog
Phyllobates bicolor Duméril & Bibron, 1841
The two-toned poison frog (Phyllobates bicolor) is a species in the family Dendrobatidae, order Anura. Its IUCN Red List status is Endangered.

Quick facts about the two-toned poison frog
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- up to 4.27 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- arthropodssrc for Main food
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- 17 – 23src for Young per litter or clutch
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Conservation status
- Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the two-toned poison frog live?
Not recorded
What is the two-toned poison frog?
Phyllobates bicolor, or more commonly referred to as the black-legged poison dart frog, is the world's second-most toxic dart frog. Under the genus Phyllobates, this organism is often mistaken as Phyllobates terribilis, the golden poison frog, as both are morphologically similar. However, Phyllobates bicolor is identifiable by the yellow or orange body and black or dark blue forelimbs and hindlegs, hence the name black-legged dart frog. Phyllobates bicolor are commonly found in tropical forests of the Chocó region of Colombia. The diurnal frogs live along the rainforest ground near streams or puddles that form. Notably, P. bicolor is a member of the family Dendrobatidae, or poison dart frog. P. bicolor, along with the rest of the Phyllobates species, produce a neurotoxin known as a batrachotoxin that inhibits specific transmembrane channels in cells. Due to this highly deadly toxin that the frogs secrete, many indigenous groups of the Colombian rainforest have extracted the toxins to create poison tipped darts used for hunting. During the breeding period, P. bicolor emits high pitched single notes as a mating call. As in all poison dart frogs, it is common for the father of tadpoles to carry the offspring on his back until they reach a suitable location for the tadpoles to develop. P. bicolor is an endangered species according to the IUCN red list. Currently, deforestation, habitat loss, and pollution pose the biggest threat to the species. Limited conservation efforts have been attempted to prevent further damage to the species. Despite this, there are still institutions such as the Baltimore National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland and the Tatamá National Natural Park in Colombia that are engaged in P. bicolor conservation efforts such as captive breeding.
From the Wikipedia article “Phyllobates bicolor” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Phyllobates_bicolor&oldid=1369642873), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the two-toned poison frog endangered?
The two-toned poison frog is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species. What the categories mean.
How is the two-toned poison frog classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAmphibia
- orderAnura
- familyDendrobatidae
- genusPhyllobates
- SpeciesPhyllobates bicolor Duméril & Bibron, 1841
Synonyms Dendrobates tinctorius chocoensis, Phyllobates chocoensis, Phyllobates melanorhinus, Phyllobates melanorrhinus, Phyllobates nicefori
Other names and names in other languages (16)
- Black leg poison dart frogEnglish
- Black-legged dart frogEnglish
- Black-legged poison dart frogEnglish
- Black-legged poison frogEnglish
- Black-legged poison frogEnglish
- Black-legged poison frogEnglish
- Two-toned arrow-poison frogEnglish
- Two-toned arrow-poison frogEnglish
- pralesnička dvoubarváCzech
- Zweifarbiger BlattsteigerGerman
- NearáSpanish
- Rana Kokoi AmarillaSpanish
- Phyllobate bicoloreFrench
- NearagiftfroskNorwegian Bokmål
- Двухцветный листолазRussian
- 黑腿箭毒蛙Chinese
Relatives of the two-toned poison frog
Other species in the same genus Phyllobates.

Golden poison frog
Phyllobates terribilis

Kokoe poison frog
Phyllobates aurotaenia

Golfodulcean poison frog
Phyllobates vittatus

Lovely poison frog
Phyllobates lugubris
CompareTwo-toned poison frog vs Golden poison frogTwo-toned poison frog vs Kokoe poison frogTwo-toned poison frog vs Golfodulcean poison frogTwo-toned poison frog vs Lovely poison frog
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
Is the two-toned poison frog endangered?
The two-toned poison frog is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
What does the two-toned poison frog eat?
Its recorded main food is arthropods.
What kind of animal is the two-toned poison frog?
The two-toned poison frog (Phyllobates bicolor) belongs to the family Dendrobatidae in the order Anura.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Two-toned poison frog (Phyllobates bicolor). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/two-toned-poison-frog
“Two-toned poison frog (Phyllobates bicolor).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/two-toned-poison-frog.
@misc{two_toned_poison_frog_2026,
title = {Two-toned poison frog (Phyllobates bicolor)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/two-toned-poison-frog},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}