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About 28 structural classes of alkaloids are known in poison dart frogs. [5] [22] The most toxic of poison dart frog species is Phyllobates terribilis. It is believed that dart frogs do not synthesize their poisons, but sequester the chemicals from arthropod prey items, such as ants, centipedes and mites – the diet-toxicity hypothesis.
The poison is generally collected by roasting the frogs over a fire, but the steroids in P. terribilis are powerful enough that it is sufficient to rub the dart on the back of the frog without killing it. In the northern Kalahari Desert, the most commonly used arrow poison is derived from the larva and pupae of beetles of the genus Diamphidia ...
They are immune to the poison and they secrete it through their skin as a defense mechanism against predators. This poison is so efficient, the native people of the South American Amazon rainforest use the frogs' toxins on their weapons to kill their prey, giving the frogs their nickname the "poison dart frog".
Phyllobates samperi, [1] formerly known as sp. aff. aurotaenia is a new species of hypertoxic poison dart frog, once cited as the "red" form of Phyllobates aurotaenia.It resembles in size and to some extent in colouration to P. aurotaenia, but genetically it is the sister species of the "terrible" frog P. terribilis. [2]
The golden poison frog is the largest species of the poison dart frog family, and can reach a weight of nearly 30 grams with a length of 6 cm as adults. [7] Females are typically larger than males. [4] The adults are brightly colored, while juvenile frogs have mostly black bodies with two golden-yellow stripes along their backs.
Dendrobates auratus (Girard, 1855) – Green and black poison dart frog; Dendrobates leucomelas (Steindachner, 1864) – Yellow-banded poison dart frog; Dendrobates nubeculosus Jungfer and Böhme 2004 - Rockstone poison dart frog; Dendrobates tinctorius (Schneider, 1799) – Dyeing dart frog; Dendrobates truncatus (Cope, 1861) – Yellow ...
The diurnal frogs live along the rainforest ground near streams or puddles that form. Notably, P. bicolor is a member of the family Dendrobatidae, or poison dart frog. P. bicolor, along with the rest of the Phyllobates species, produce a neurotoxin known as a batrachotoxin that inhibits specific transmembrane channels in cells. [3]
Like most poison dart frogs, the yellow-banded poison dart frog has evolved aposematic colouration as a warning to potential predators that it will make an unpalatable or toxic meal. Predominantly, these frogs have a bright yellow colouration with varying numbers of broad black stripes and/or spots that extend over the whole body.