Real or fake?

[ejh805]

Performed a quick google search using the info above the picture, and it looks like it's a real species, but the photo is VERY altered.


These were a couple of pictures that came up when "Atelopus varius" was typed in. Chances are that whoever made this picture simply changed the color of where the yellow is into that pinkish hue. Either that or found a real picture and made the colors much stronger/vibrant than they really are.

[ejh805]

These are pictures of Atelopus varius that I pulled off the Smithsonian's webpage on them.

[UncleChester]

Pink/purple seems to exist in froggies. From a few years back: Scientists find 24 new species in Suriname - Technology & science - Science | NBC News

The colour in the one from Facebook may have had the saturation ramped up (and be a different species from the Atelopus above), but if you're viewing pictures likely taken without any regard to colour accuracy on a non-calibrated monitor in a web browser that doesn't recognize colour profiles and have an expectation that what you're looking at actually matches reality, raise your hand

[flybyferns]

The purple looks scribbled ........on ?


Google Image Result for http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L73HzQl8n4I/TiIKdfZkVaI/AAAAAAAAEBE/UgWkOwRsO54/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-07-16%2Bat%2B3.02.06%2BPM.png


https://twitter.com/EcoInteractive/s...84643944517632

Pictures of poison frogs

[tylototriton]

Super duper fake!!! It's modelled after an Atelopus "barbotini" (the taxonomy is a little convoluted, it may be a subspecies of spumarius or flavescens or could be its own species) like the one Ariel put up. I'm having a hard time finding that image in full size, but I think the entire frog is fabricated. It looks like a mix between Atelopus and some sort of Dendrobatid. Although it is similar to real frogs, that one is definitely fake and definitely not Atelopus varius. The pictures Emily posted are the most accurate photos of them. As a side not though, the text is spot on. There are only about 40 or so left in the wild in a very small very secluded region of Costa Rica. If you want to see what those individuals look like Google search "Leenders Atelopus varius".

[UncleChester]

I'm having a hard time finding that image in full size, but I think the entire frog is fabricated.

The image from Facebook is on many websites:

https://www.google.com/search?tbs=sb...SUnkKDF1umrf9Q

Unfortunately none seem to be the original. It does look scribbled on. If photoshopped (and I won't rule this out), they did a pretty good job with the small details. The colouring goes out of focus where it should, and the skins texture is visible where it should be. Not impossible to fake by any means, but not a simple job done in ms paint.

[tylototriton]

I agree, that would be very difficult.

Here is another view from this very forum!
http://www.frogforum.net/tree-frogs/...-wishlist.html

It's a couple images down.


It is most definitely fake though. I'm not sure how they did it, but the front view confirms that. I wonder what the impetus for making that was?

~Alex

[tylototriton]

Just to clarify my earlier statement, Emily's first pictures are A. varius. The second set are actually a mixture of species that were found in Panama.

Cheers,
Alex