Poison Dart Frog Facts

Poison dart frogs belong to the family Dendrobatidae, and are also known as dart poison frogs or poison-arrow frogs. They vary in color and pattern and have a life span of more than 10 years.

The poison dart frogs are regional to humid environment, and found in tropical rainforests of Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela and Hawaii islands. They tend to live in trees, under leaves, logs and rocks on the forest floor. These amphibians are called as dart-frogs, as some Amerindian tribes used the secretion of these frogs to poison their darts. It is the skin of the frog that contains the poison and the toxicity level varies from one species to other. Poison dart frogs tend to lose their toxicity to some extent when bred in captivity.

Characteristics
Poison dart frogs are small in size and vary from 1.5 centimeters (0.59 inches) to 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) in length. They exhibit bright colors and have elaborate designs and hues. These frogs display aposematic patterns to ward off any potential predators. Unlike other frogs, they are diurnal and rest during the night. They use their long sticky tongues to capture preys like spiders, small insects, ants, termites and small crickets. According to scientists, these insects acquire the poison from their plant diet, which can be the source of toxicity in poison dart frog. The poison-arrow frogs have porous skin and quickly adapt themselves to the changing environment. Most of the species flourish where humidity is constant at 80 to 100%, and temperature is around 72°F (22°C) to 80°F (27°C) during the day, and 60°F (16°C) to 65°F (18°C) at night.

Reproduction
The poison dart frogs use their color pattern to warn predators, and not for attracting mates. The males use vocalizations to attract females for mating. Their mating ritual is quite interesting, the male frogs fight each other for the females; whoever wins the fight is chosen by the female. The other male frogs retreat and stay in their territories. Poison dart frogs lay their eggs in moist places like leaves, exposed roots, etc. The frogs carry their newly hatched tadpoles into the canopy. The tadpoles stick to the mucus on the back of their parents. The youngs are deposited in pools of water or water-filled bromeliad, an epiphytic plant, where they remain till metamorphosis. The tadpoles feed on invertebrates in their arboreal nursery, and are also supplied with unfertilized eggs by their mother.

Toxicity and Medicine
The poison dart frog seizes certain chemicals from preys like, ants and mites to derive its toxicity. They secrete lipophilic alkaloid toxin from their skin, that has enough venom to kill ten grownup humans. But, some predators of these frogs like, Amazon ground snake are immune to these toxins.

The secretions from dendrobatids have medicinal value and are used as muscle relaxants, heart stimulants and appetite suppressants. The chemical Epipedobates tricolor extracted from their skin is used to make painkiller called epibatidine, which is stronger than morphine.

Types of Poison Dart Frogs
There are more than 100 species of poison dart frogs. Some of the deadly poison dart frogs are:

• Phyllobates terribilis: It is also known as golden poison arrow frog, and is found mainly in Colombia, along the western slopes of the Andes. It secretes batrachotoxin, a poisonous steroidal alkaloid from skin glands, that can kill animals including humans. This poisonous alkaloid blocks the neuromuscular transmission in the body, that causes muscle and respiratory paralysis, and finally death.
• Phyllobates bicolor: This poison dart frog is native to the Colombia region of South America. It is brightly colored and practices aposematic coloration. The phyllobates' bicolor is highly poisonous, but its skin contains less batrachotoxin than the golden poison frog.
• Dendrobates tinctorius: It is a colorful poison dart frog, found in the rainforests of the Guianas, in the northeastern shoulder of South America. This frog secretes a poison called pumiliotoxin, but is not as venomous as batrachotoxin produced by the Phyllobates.
• Dendrobates azureus: It is a beautiful green or light blue color poison dart frog, found in southern Surinam and Brazil. It produces a toxin called pumiliotoxin.
• Dendrobates pumilio: It is also called as strawberry poison dart frog, native to the tropical rainforests of Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. This frog secretes a poison called pumiliotoxin. It has an extraordinary reproduction strategy; the female frog feeds its tadpoles with the unfertilized eggs laid by her.

Unfortunately, poison dart frogs are losing their natural habitats, due to cutting of the rainforests for logging and farming. Conservation measures should be taken to protect this endangered species.