These poisoned dart frogs are getting more than just food from ants

Hey Steemians,

Today I will take you through, one of the most elusive amphibian species of south america, a tiny and toxic creature which everyone desire to see but not to face.

(Dendrobatid frog)

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These vivid colored frogs are from Dendrobatidae family, they are also called poison dart frogs and are found in the tropical rain forests. These beautiful tiny frogs secrets toxins on the surface of their body, which are basically alkaloids. The bio-active alkaloids which keep their enemy and predators away are getting depleted overtime when kept in captivity and the same goes for their offspring's also. These observations have led the researchers to looks for the connection between the bio-active compound and the frog's diet.

And the difference they have found in the alkaloid profile from the same species growing in different habitats are huge and are influenced environmentally.

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When you think of frog, what color comes in your mind? Green/Brown, something like that, but not in the rain forests of south america. They are bright in color and to survive in the forest they do not need to camouflage, because the color on the body surface itself indicates (Don't eat me) shows extremely toxic and making them aposematic. There are lot of different species which are so potent, that will kill you within few hours.

One of the really interesting features about these poisoned frogs which separates them from other frog species is they do not have webbing in between their toes. They have the sticky pads on tips on their finger which allow them to climb and allow them to hunt for their food, they are primarily feeding on ants, mites and little invertebrates which have high amount of alkaloids. Here are some of the example of the poison dart frogs.

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The alkaloids they eat from their food are ingested in their body and produces the toxin.

From the study, its been verified where these alkaloids are coming to the body surface? Two decahydroquinoline alkaloids isolated from the ants supports the information of getting these toxins from ants.Alkaloids of this type are found on the dendrobatid frogs surface. This finding suggested that frogs have introduced these alkaloids in their diet for the defensive purpose.

"Getting More from Ants Than Just a Good Meal"

About 28 structural different classes of alkaloids are known from poison frogs. Phyllobates terribilis is the most toxic among them, enough to kill 10-20 men or about 10,000 mice and that's a huge amount of lifes.

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These chemicals have shown many medical values, for example Epipedobates tricolor, Scientists have used this poison to make painkiller and these painkillers are 200 times more effective than morphine; however, the therapeutic dose is very close to the fatal dose.

These tiny toxic amphibians have kept the small anthropods in their food chain to provide them protection against predators.