Are they poisonous?
Most poison dart frogs have toxins in their skin and If animals catch them they will experience a nasty taste, numbness, or a burning sensation. In a few highly toxic species they could even be killed.
The various dart frog toxins have been studied and have shown potential in the development of pain killers, anesthetics and heart drugs.
Some dart frogs, including P. terribilis really have been used to make poison blow-pipe darts by native people. In most cases the frog must be killed to obtain the toxins but in the case of P. terribilis, they only need to wipe the darts over the live frog’s back and the dart will have sufficient poison to kill prey species (and hostile tribes people in the past!) and will remain potent for a year.
A single wild P. terribilis has enough toxin in its skin to kill at least 10 people.
The toxins are formed from alkaloid precursors in the diet insects (probably ants or certain small beetles). In captivity, they are fed mainly fruit flies and crickets which don’t contain these chemicals so luckily, once they have been in captivity for a long time, they lose their toxicity.
Social Structure & Behavior
Breeding & Care of Young
Dart frogs show parental care, which is very unusual behavior for an amphibian. They lay their eggs in suitable damp places under leaves and the male frog guards them and keeps them moist while they develop.
When the tadpoles hatch from the eggs they wriggle up onto the male’s back. He will then carry the tadpoles, possibly for several days, until he deposits them in suitable small puddle of water e.g. bromeliad leaf pools where they can finish their development into adult frogs.
In some dart frog species, the female even returns to these pools and lays eggs for the tadpole to eat.
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