It is found in the Amazon rainforest and montane forests in the eastern piedmont in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador (Morona Santiago, Napo, Orellana, Pastaza, and Sucumbíos provinces), French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.

The back varies from greyish-bronze to greenish-bronze and has a black, dark brown, or reddish mottle that generally includes dorsolaterally olive-green areas.

About two-thirds of the individuals registered in Santa Cecilia (Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador) were near temporary pools and ditches filled with water in clearings near the forest.

Many of the frogs had been at heights of more than 20 m. In Yasuni National Park, Ron recorded it in open areas and Read (notes from the field) found choirs of Dendropsophus marmoratusin recently created temporary pools along roads in primary and secondary forest; It was especially common in large clearings within primary forest, such as oil well platforms, where water was present.

D. marmoratus is found at altitudes of 0–1000 m above sea level in the Amazon Basin in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and southern Venezuela.

Beetles and orthoptera are the most abundant prey; Menéndez-Guerrero reports that the diet has a high frequency of ants and attributes this fact to its short jaws and thin head compared to other species.

Among the exotic pet trade, Dendropsophus marmoratus specimens have become popular for their patterns, as many equate the frogs' mottled appearances to bird feces.