# Black Auratus



## nathan (Jul 24, 2009)

Got three in today. And some info on these guys. Not all of them are solid black. Some have more of the metalic green comming through the black then others. The three I got have different levels of black. One is pretty solid black. You have to catch it in the right angle and light to see a very small hint of pattern if any. They come from Churro. So maybe calling them Churro Black auratus would be more fitting then just black auratus.

Anyways heres some pics ENJOY!
side note the flash brings out the pattern and green alot more then they look to the naked eye

lightest








mid range (although its still pretty black)








jet black


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## azure89 (Jan 5, 2009)

Cool frogs


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## calvinyhob (Dec 18, 2007)

how much do you charge to come to your zoo i mean house lol 


Awesome looking frogs dude, like the new pums too!!!


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## stemcellular (Jun 26, 2008)

interesting, look a lot like capira auratus.


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

interesting, that that first one woudl be sold as a back auratus with the color and pattern it has, i have 2 that are jet black.


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## nathan (Jul 24, 2009)

Yeah I find it interesting too. Maybe these black auratus are just a melanistic form? 

They all came from the same locality. I was told they are collected near the village of churro . . .


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## nathan (Jul 24, 2009)

So a correction to the spelling of the locality. I wrote it down wrong. Its La chorrera . . . .sorry for the confusion.


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## JoshK (Jan 5, 2009)

Nice frogs Nathan, how old are they?


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## nathan (Jul 24, 2009)

calvinyhob said:


> how much do you charge to come to your zoo i mean house lol
> 
> 
> Awesome looking frogs dude, like the new pums too!!!


I am in an apt right now. currently looking for a house to rent in the area. So if that ever happens Ill have to get some DB members over to check out the animals . . .


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## nathan (Jul 24, 2009)

JoshK said:


> Nice frogs Nathan, how old are they?


Not exactly sure on the age. the are really good size though.

At first glance it looked like 1.2 but ill have to look again and post more pics. i took some when I first put them in their temp tub and have let the be since. Dont want to bug them too much . . .


Oh and if anyone else wants to post pics of their black auratus feel free !


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## edwing206 (Apr 9, 2008)

Nice frogs Nathan!

When you said churro I laughed a bit, mmmm, churro frogs.


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## Topete (Sep 27, 2009)

edwing206 said:


> Nice frogs Nathan!
> 
> When you said churro I laughed a bit, mmmm, churro frogs.


You just made my day!! i thought the same!

Kidding aside your frogs look great!!

wish i could get some!


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## JJuchems (Feb 16, 2004)

Sorry Nathan, I would not call the first frog a Black auratus. The flash does bring out a lot, but the first. I think is a bit much. 

Here is a picture from 2004 import (traded in 04 or 05): 









Here are my 2009 import: 









Here is one of my 2010 import:


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## nathan (Jul 24, 2009)

Well looks like we can approach this like the sky blue azureus then? Hand pick the blackest animals then breed for that? These are 2010 imports and all collected together from the same locality. The second two look very black in person especially the third frog. I bet there is a ton of variation in the wild population. 

Maybe animals get blacker the older they get?
Maybe some are melanistic?
Possible co dominaant , dominant or ressesive traits?
Who knows

I am going to keep them together and breed them together. If thet breed of course. And im sure I will get offspring with amounts of black that varry like the parents. I hope they dont end up being cherry picked and line bred for the blackest animals. So like I said im going to try to keep them like how they came to me . . .

Your frogs do look great too !


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## nathan (Jul 24, 2009)

JJuchems said:


> Sorry Nathan, I would not call the first frog a Black auratus. The flash does bring out a lot, but the first. I think is a bit much. QUOTE]
> 
> And like I said , maybe it would be more appropriate to call these guys by their locality instead of just black auratus - LA CHORRERA BLACK AURATUS seems like a better Idea to me. . .
> 
> I would bet that if people were looking for just the jet black ones , then the animals that were comming in with a little color to them or a fair amount, were being left behind or possibly mixed in with other morphs?


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## skylsdale (Sep 16, 2007)

No, there are actual black auratus from La Chorrera...that locale was mentioned in an auratus article of the last issue of Leaf Litter Magazine, and all of the sudden dark colored auratus (many that look like yours and aren't completely black) have been popping up all over the place, supposedly from La Chorrera. Unless you know absolutely for sure they were from this locale, please do not market and pass them along as such.

Here are some images from my gallery of auratus that all came in the same shipment a few years ago: Misc. auratus - Dendroboard Gallery There are a couple really dark ones that look very close to yours (without the flash in photos they look almost completely black): 



















Given the looks of the others in the gallery, it looks as though one is from Campana del Norte, another is from Campana or Capira (both of which are in the same general region), and another that is perhaps from a bit further west toward El Cope, and then some sort of "bronze" form. It's very likely these frogs were all collected from these various areas in the region and thrown in together (they all come in the same box together like this)...it's possible some breed together naturally in the wild and perhaps some don't. 

Regardless, I would agree that they just look like some of the darker frogs from the Campana/Capira region...which is where we also get the "Camo" frogs. I assume this is just one of the darker variations found within this varied area of auratus.


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## nathan (Jul 24, 2009)

I was told they were all from La Chorrera. And thats one reason they had to be bought as the group. Seller didnt want to split them up just selling the all black one . . .

Ill have to do some more digging . . .

Would you suggest taking the first animal out of the group then? If they do breed should I just sell them as mutt aurutus then? Just want to know what would be the appropriate thing to do. 

And even though there are black auratus from La Chorrera. It is possible that there is a varrying degree of black within its population. Or like I said is it possible the black animals are melanistic either a ressesive trait or co-dominant / dominant trait???

It just makes me wonder if the black ones were targeted out of the population for being different and thus sold as such?


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## JJuchems (Feb 16, 2004)

I believe it was Ben Green (The Choco Hut), who bred these in 04-06 range. They started out with with green color and it faded as they aged. I remember post on this site of pictures of the progression of fading. 

Nathan, I just have not seen "blacks" with that much green. The locality is not confirmed. I have heard the La Chorrera connection, the water fall outside of La Chorrera, and areas west of the canal.

Edit: I have never been to Panama, nor do I personally know anyone. I asked the imports/seller what they know. My 04's came from Bill Weirtz (Quality Exotics).


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## nathan (Jul 24, 2009)

JJuchems said:


> I believe it was Ben Green (The Choco Hut), who bred these in 04-06 range. They started out with with green color and it faded as they aged. I remember post on this site of pictures of the progression of fading.
> 
> Nathan, I just have not seen "blacks" with that much green. The locality is not confirmed. I have heard the La Chorrera connection, the water fall outside of La Chorrera, and areas west of the canal.
> 
> Edit: I have never been to Panama, nor do I personally know anyone. I asked the imports/seller what they know. My 04's came from Bill Weirtz (Quality Exotics).


Yeah I was told they came from near the water fall. The person I got them from I believe goes to panama regularly. . .

Ill have to try to get some more info on these guys.


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## Reef_Haven (Jan 19, 2011)

Is anyone breeding any of these? I'm curious how much variation there is to the offspring.


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## pa.walt (Feb 16, 2004)

i think that they do get darker as they age. the colors are a sign of a younger frog. OR i could be wrong.


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## JJuchems (Feb 16, 2004)

Mine did not produce this year. As froglets they have color and it fades as they age. It varies by frog howvquick it fades.


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