Colorful ( & Poisonous) Frogs

"QUANTUM SHOT" #106


Bacchanalia of colors that can be lethal

Not all beautiful frogs depicted here are poisonous, but those who are - can be very deadly indeed. The most poisonous animal is not a snake or a spider. It's a beautiful little frog! "Most frogs produce skin toxins, but the dart poison frogs from Central and South America are the most potent of all. The golden poison frog, called terribilis (the terrible), is so toxic that even touching it can be dangerous. A single terribilis contains enough poison to kill 20,000 mice or 10 people. It is probably the most poisonous animal on Earth." (source)

Click to enlarge:






















































And finally, the aforementioned "Most Poisonous" Golden Poison Dart Frog:


"Mint" flavour:




Phyllobates terribilis, shown above, has enough poison to kill 100 humans (source)

"Their poison contains toxins that dull the nerves and produce heart and repiratory (sic.) failure. The skin of an adult P. terribilis has enough batrachotoxin to kill 20,000 mice, or 100 adult humans. Two-tenths of a microgram of batrachotoxin is lethal in the human blood stream and each adult P. terribilis contains nearly 200 micrograms."

Some of the Latin names of frogs depicted above:
(plus some toads were added for good measure)

- Dendrobates auratus
- Dendrobates azureus
- Ceratophrys ornata
- Mantella aurantiaca
- Phrynohyas resinifictrix
- Agalychnis callidryas
- Dendrobates pumilio

Images sources: Zoltan Takacs, Amy Snyder, Juan Manuel Renjifo, the rest from email: contact me if you know the photographer.

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Category: Animals,Nature