Not All Poison Dart Frogs Are Poisonous, But Those That Are Poisonous Tend To Be Highly Toxic

Although not all poison dart frogs are lethal, those that do usually have a high level of toxicity. The frogs are dangerous to handle because they have poison on their skin to ward off predators.

Through their skin, numerous poison dart frogs release lipophilic alkaloid toxins like allopumiliotoxin 267A, batrachotoxin, histrionicotoxin, and pumiliotoxin 251D. The poison frogs' skin glands contain alkaloids that act as a chemical barrier against predators, allowing them to coexist with them during the day. The structural groups of alkaloids found in poison frogs number about 28. Phyllobates terribilis is the type of poison dart frog that is the most dangerous. According to the diet-toxicity hypothesis, dart frogs do not create their poisons; instead, they sequester the chemicals from their arthropod prey, such as ants, centipedes, and mites. Because they are raised on diets devoid of the alkaloids that are secreted by wild populations, animals raised in captivity do not have large levels of poisons in them.

To put its toxicity into perspective, the Golden Poison Frog is the most lethal of the bunch. It is believed to have enough poison in its skin to kill 20 fully grown adults or 20,000 mice.