Which of the earthly creatures is considered the most poisonous? Snakes, fish, spiders - they all occupy the second and next places, in the first - the poisonous frogs of South and Central America. Their poison is ten times more toxic than snake, and harmful substances exceed the strength of potassium cyanide. The most poisonous frog in the world, capable of killing a dozen people, is a terrible poison frog (or leaf climber). Moreover, the sign “terrible” is part of the official name of the reptile.
Appearance signals that the tree frog is poisonous, and there are no enemies for it. Bright screaming coloring catches your eye and warns, although the frogs themselves are small in size. Their weight is only 3-4 grams. The smallest representatives, such as the small woodpecker and blue woodpecker, have even less weight. Charming kids are painted in all colors of the rainbow - from bright yellow to blue with red spots. It is the colors that indicate that you can’t touch the reptile! Fortunately, the most poisonous frogs live only in the tropical jungle of America. Despite all the danger, thousands of amateurs acquire such dangerous creatures for their terrariums.
The number of species is surprising in its diversity; there are up to 130 subspecies of woodpeckers alone. They all lead an active day life, and sleep at night. In the daytime, poisonous frogs prey on ants, worms, termites and other insects. According to scientists, it is the diet of amphibians that affects the high degree of toxicity of their poison. Hundreds of alkaloids that can be found on the skin of brightly colored frogs enter the body with just food.
It’s enough to touch the skin of a frog to get instant poisoning from a poison containing more than 100 deadly highly toxic components. This mixture has nerve and cardiotonic effects. A person receives a dose of poison through minor injuries on the skin, as well as through the pores, while toxic substances are instantly absorbed, enter the heart, causing paralysis and death within a few minutes. Scientists have calculated that one gram of leafolaz poison is enough to kill a thousand adults.
This property was used by the Indians for hunting arrows. Now science has definitely found out that only 5 species of tree frogs produce deadly alkaloids - batrachotoxins. But during the content of these species in the terrarium, the amount of toxins on the skin decreased sharply. And in captive-born woodpeckers, they were not found at all. Poisonous frogs are not aggressive, therefore they do not pose a threat to humanity, since poisoning becomes less dangerous with mass elimination. The best remedy is simply not to touch.
For science, poisonous frogs are a huge field for research and experiments, during which you can get a fundamentally new medical preparations. In particular, we are talking about painkillers that are stronger than morphine, antibiotics, and drugs to stimulate cardiac function. While the doctors of science are fighting for new drugs, poison frogs and leaf-climbers are fighting for life on the planet, killing people and animals with their poison who dared to touch them by negligence.
