# Isla Colon pumilio, 2 pops or 1



## sports_doc (Nov 15, 2004)

Quick question re: Colon pums.

Are there more than one population and are they phenotypically distinct?

I have a number of frogs from multiple source, some with the cream background in the legs and others lime green with more green/black leg patterns.

Shed some light please

S


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## sbreland (May 4, 2006)

Depends on who you ask...
Some say there is only one, others say there are as many as 3 (maybe more). Bocas Del Drago, Mimitimbi, and Isla Colon. As far as phenotypic differences between the possibel different populations... ewww. I haven't seen anything definitive describing phenotypic differences between the possible populations but if you look at tropical experience there appears to be some. Now whether or not those differences range the population or are isolated to individuals I have no idea.... there, how's that for muddying the water for ya?


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## markpulawski (Nov 19, 2004)

I was told by a very reliable source that the population on Colon is one somewhat contiguous population. There is variation as the population goes across the island but there are no geographic breaks that seperate the population. This source from the academic community suggested there is one morph of Isla Colon Pumilio, not a write in stone finality but good enough for me to believe until a more scientific survey is made known to us.
Mark


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## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

I've personally not been to the Mimitimbi population, but I went to La Gruta (which is roughly the center of the island), but from my experience, I'd treat Bocas del Drago and the more central population separate. IME, BdD have orange legs and fine, round spots. LG can have orange to blue legs and larger, oblong Basti-like spots. I'd like to find the population closest to Bastimentos and see how they compare. Here's some pics of the two populations:

Bocas del Drago:





































La Gruta:














































So you can see that there is some overlap, but I can tell you that the spots and legs in the BdD population are very consistent. Genetically, I'd bet that they're the same, but phenotypically, I'd call them separate. More likely than not, you get a ring species type complex where you have extremes on either end and have transitional morphs in the middle.


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

GORGEOUS. I'd be thrilled with either one.

I'm hoping to score some of these at the NAAC


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## tkromer (Dec 20, 2007)

You can definitely tell a color difference, but I don't know if that qualifies for separate populations or not... Beautiful frogs either way, and some fantastic photos there!


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## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

Maybe it`s just me but is isla colon in between bastimentos and cayo de agua? Colons just look like an intermediate between the 2. I imagine most of these island pops are just splits from one another. Who know`s what theyll look like in 100 years if more storms( or people) transport frogs from one pop to another.


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

Great looking frogs!!


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## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

frogfarm said:


> Maybe it`s just me but is isla colon in between bastimentos and cayo de agua? Colons just look like an intermediate between the 2. I imagine most of these island pops are just splits from one another. Who know`s what theyll look like in 100 years if more storms( or people) transport frogs from one pop to another.


Nope. Isla Colon is the furthest west and Cayo de Agua is the furthest east (except for Escudo):










There is very little rhyme or reason to the colors you see in the archipelago.


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## *GREASER* (Apr 11, 2004)

MonarchzMan said:


> I'd treat Bocas del Drago and the more central population separate.


That is also how I pretty much feel.




> . More likely than not, you get a ring species type complex where you have extremes on either end and have transitional morphs in the middle.



But on the other hand im sure this is very very true so if you have frogs at home I wouldnt see a problem with mixing any colons that you have. Seeing that probably a lot of the colons in teh hobby have already been mixed up and I dont see there being lots of new wild colons being avialale any time soon to pair up everyones colons at home.


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