Dart-Frogs

            They jump around, some being extremely dangerous and all have blindingly vibrant pigments in their skin. Poison Dart Frogs are tiny little frogs with the smallest being the size of a fingernail and largest about two inches long.  They are mostly found in Latin and South American jungles. Each different species of poison dart frog has its own vivid coloration, from midnight blue to bright yellow and everything in between.

            This week a new species of poison dart frog was found in Panama. It is tiny, really super tiny at about 12mm long. This is about the size of a nickel.  They also have bright electric orange skin. The poison of this creature is still being tested for its toxicity level in its venom due to the frog just being discovered. These creatures are remarkable and beyond attractive with their jet-black eyes and neon orange colored skin.

            The biology behind these types of frogs is complicated and interesting.  Poison on their skin is not lethal, but it can still pack a serious punch if you decide to prey on and swallow a poisonous dart frog. Terrible taste and/or a gut-wrenching stomachache are side effects of eating a Poison Dart Frogs skin. Sometimes though, the poison in poison dart frogs can be used for medicinal purposes. Painkillers are usually made from the same chemicals that are found in these frogs poison. The color of their skin also affects the way these tiny frogs can survive such a scary jungle. When an animal eats a PDF and survives these nasty side effects it will learn and interprets that the frog with a radiant colored skin should not be eaten. This is why frogs have such bright colored skin such as bright yellow or deep crimson red; animals learn to avoid these vivid pigments so they don’t end up sick.  Over time conditioning occurs and these frogs now have little to no predators.

Fun fact: Poison Dart Frogs get their cool name from actually being used to make darts poisonous. Natives extract the frog’s poison and put them onto darts used in blow-dart guns.  The poison usually gives excruciating pain to the victim and the darts can be only semi-dangerous. So Indian Jones is not going die if some Indian with a blow-dark gun hits him.