Kiss Death Frog: The Poison Dart Frog Will Shoot Arrow OF Fright On You

Not long ago, I sat down with my daughter to read a book about amazing animals, interesting facts about nature, or whatever it may be. And then I saw it. A page dedicated to the poison dart frog. Its brief description, which was tailored to the delicate souls of children, turned on my horror radar. A very poisonous frog, mainly because it stores the poison of its victims, a tiny amount of which can kill an adult human, and which was used by the Indians for these purposes, among other things. An enormous pleasure, as long as you don’t come across it, of course (and fortunately, it only lives in Central and South America).

So I eagerly read the dry description in the children’s book. A few moments later, I easily decided to do a comprehensive review of poison dart frog facts for you, fans of scary animals around the world. Will this ever become a horror movie about a particularly deadly frog? Time will tell.

What Is A Poison Dart Frog?

Like many other scary animals, poison dart frogs also have a scientific name: Dendrobatidae, a family of four-legged amphibians without tails. We will mainly choose the standard terms “poison dart frog”, “dart-poison frog”, or just “poison frog” because they are scarier and cooler, and also because writing “Dendrobatidae” over and over again sounds like verbal harassment.

It is important to note, by the way, that these animals are more reminiscent of Hylas than frogs, but the common name still refers to frogs, which are more familiar to the general public.

When Does The Poison Dart Frog Live?

In any case, the extended Dendrobatidae family has about 220 species. You will find them mainly in South and Central America, particularly in areas near rivers and streams in the rainforests, such as the Amazon Rainforest. That’s because such frogs are endemic to tropical and humid environments, found in countries like Brazil, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Panama, Hawaii, Nicaragua, and more.

However, you do not have to pack a backpack to see these frogs, which are sometimes found in captivity in zoos and animal exhibits around the world, or sold illegally across the globe for a few hundred dollars.

The Poison Dart Frog Meaning

The good news is that most species of poison dart frogs known to humans are not poisonous to us. The bad news is that the toxic frogs are super dangerous. On the skin of the perilous species (and we will expand on some of them later), you will find over 100 types of deadly poison.

What is interesting (or scary) is that this poison is not naturally found in the frog’s body. Instead, the answer relies on what does the poison dart frog eat for a living. It comes from the poisonous insects it eats, which in turn eat toxic plants. This is why poison dart frogs in captivity become non-toxic at some point. However, the frogs’ eggs are poisonous, and the tadpoles that hatch from them should be toxic from the day they are born.

To understand the origin of the arrow in the name of this deadly animal, it is enough to see what the Indians used it for. We believe that Indians from a people called “Emberá”, somewhere in what was then western Colombia, extracted the poison from the frog in a way that looks like it came out of a Torture Porn movie: they impaled the frog while it was still alive with a special stick, from the mouth to the hind leg, to increase the amount of poison that the frog secreted. They drew their arrows with this poison and used it for hunting purposes and as a weapon, including against humans, usually with a blow stick.

The Indians had various methods of increasing the production of poison, some of which depended on the specific species of poison dart frog. There were cases in which they would hold the frog close to a fire to increase its skin secretions, and then rub the arrowheads with poison. In the most poisonous species of the frog, it was enough to rub the tip of the arrow against the skin of the back, without any auxiliary means, so that the Indians could carry out their plan.

How Does The Poison Work?

The question that must remain is how the frogs can carry such a potent poison without being harmed themselves. For years, experts have tried to understand why, and the accepted explanation today has to do with the type of these poisons. As mentioned, the frogs get the alkaloids from the food they eat and use the toxins as a means of defense against the predators that surround them. You can also find the alkaloids in foods that humans eat, such as caffeinated drinks or chocolates, but they contain a small amount that is broken down quite easily in the liver, without harming the person.

In frogs, on the other hand, the toxins are not broken down in the digestive system. The frogs store impressive amounts of the poison on the skin, apparently thanks to a particular protein that acts as a “sponge” toxin and “connects” the alkaloids to the bloodstream. On an evolutionary level, frogs’ body systems have evolved to transport alkaloids safely through the body, similar to how proteins transport hormones in humans and other animals.

What Does A Poison Dart Frog Look Like? It Depends Of The Specific Type

It would be too short to list all the types of poison dart frogs here, mainly since our site focuses on horror rather than biology. However, we found a few species that fit the site’s DNA very well, mostly because the frogs in this group are particularly poisonous and more “famous”.

Each type differs in terms of potential size, color, diet, and habitats. Surely, there are more dangerous frogs than others.

Golden Poison Frog

We start our review with the golden poison frog, or by its scientific name “Phyllobates terribilis” (in a loose translation that looks like a failed Hebrew translation of a horror movie: “deadly tree climber”). The golden dart frog is a species endemic to the Pacific coast of Colombia. It is known as the most dangerous and deadly type of poison dart frog, or even one of the most poisonous animals you can find on Earth.

The golden dart frog got its name from its golden hues, although you can also find it in shades of mint green (mainly in captivity), yellow/golden, or orange. It is considered relatively small (about 55 cm long), but it has long legs and impressive climbing ability. It eats forest insects, some of which are poisonous, and uses them extremely effectively. A very minimal amount of active substance in the frog’s body – 2 micrograms, which is actually two millionths of a gram – is enough to kill an adult human.

Strawberry Dart Frog

The red-footed frog (scientific name: Oophaga pumilio) belongs to the Oophaga group. Unsurprisingly, it got its name thanks to its red body, which is known to be a warning sign in nature about the danger it poses to other animals, which stands out next to its blue legs. But don’t let this beauty dazzle you, because the red-footed frog is very poisonous.

The poison strawberry dart frog lives mainly in the lush rainforests of Central America, and in fact – there is an archipelago in northern Panama named after it called “Red Frog Island”. It usually reaches a length of about 17.5-22 mm, distinguished by a small head but strong legs, which also contribute to its climbing abilities.

Sira Poison Dart Frog

The Sira poison dart frog (Ranitomeya sirensis) lives mainly in the Amazon rainforest – undoubtedly, one of the most dangerous places in the world – and more precisely, mainly in northern Bolivia, western Brazil, and the eastern part of Peru. There you will also find the main food that makes them poisonous, such as beetles or invertebrates, some of which are still unknown to man.

The sira poison frog is tiny, usually measuring only about 15-17 mm. Despite this, it stands out with its warning colors: a yellow body with blue legs with black spots, and black stripes on the back. On the positive side, the frog’s poison is less deadly than the types mentioned above. Still, this is a poisonous frog, and contact with it may cause unpleasant symptoms such as pain and muscle spasms, especially for short periods of time. If you eat frogs for any reason, be aware that eating a sira poison frog significantly increases the danger level.

Blue Dart Frog

The poison blue dart frog, or blue dendrobates (Dendrobates tinctorius “azureus”), also lives in the rainforests and feeds on insects such as beetles, ants, spiders, and mites, some of which are poisonous. Along with the shades of blue that make the frog spectacular by any measure – if you like, no less than the very dangerous blue tarantula we have already written about – you will sometimes also find shades of purple, black-yellow, and dark spots. Such colors serve as a warning to predators that the animal standing in front of them is highly poisonous, so eating it is not the best idea.

The blue poison dart frog is medium to large in size (about 5.5-7 cm long), compared to other poison dart frogs. Unlike most animals, it is the female who chases after the male. In terms of toxicity – which is what we are mainly interested in since we are dealing with horror in nature and not love affairs between animals – it can cause serious effects such as damage to the nervous system, paralysis, or death. On the positive side, there are more toxic types of dart frogs.

The Lifestyle (And Death) Of Poison Dart Frogs

The poison dart frogs are very modern in their lifestyle. The female’s job is to lay the eggs (which happens on a leaf), and from now on, the father comes into the picture and does most of the rearing work in the initial stages. He guards the eggs from their laying until they hatch, and then transfers the first ones to tiny pools of water. Later on, he is also responsible for most of the care of the offspring.

The lifespan of frogs varies, of course, depending on the specific type and the living or captivity conditions, with a typical lifespan of about seven years in the wild. In captivity, the lifespan tends to be several years longer, which, as mentioned, comes at the expense of toxicity, which decreases with a change in dietary habits and the transition to a menu free of poisonous creatures.

There are different species of poison dart frog, some of which are rare or even in tangible danger of extinction. However, on a general level, this intriguing animal is not currently a tangible threat. Among the main hazards that exist, some of which are unique to the species or specific locations, we can list:

🐸 Deforestation and other hazards that destroy the frogs’ natural habitats

🐸 Illegal trade for various purposes, including raising the frog as a pet

🐸 Hunting

🐸 Harmful mushrooms

Are There Any Horror Movies About Poison Dart Frogs?

Horror movies have taught us to deal with a very long list of monstrous creatures, in some cases, real animals. The truth is that personally, I don’t remember too many scary movies in which the main villains were frogs in general, and poison dart frogs in particular, and that’s a good thing since they probably would suck. Nevertheless, I tried to use the search tools available to a horror fan looking for information about strange movies: search engines, artificial intelligence, and so on.

Jumgle Run (2022)

In 2022, we saw (or didn’t actually see) a relatively insignificant adventure movie called “Jungle Run.” The story revolves around a brother and sister who venture into the jungle in search of their father, who vanished while working for a logging company. There, accompanied by local guides who are probably supposed to die first, they encounter a long line of monstrous creatures, including giant spiders, anacondas, piranhas that eat the boat, and of course a poison dart frog, with the common denominator – as you can see from the poster, the trailer, and clips available online – being the product of an animation work.

The film reveals that the animals are not truly natural, as they are actually controlled by some weird object that protects the Amazon. This object is angry about the logging and goes on a revenge mission, or some other scripted lie. The relevant scene with the poison dart frogs features a character being attacked by a frog, cured with what appears to be medicinal herbs (don’t try this at home), and includes several more shots of frogs, some real and some by pretty cheap CGI work.

Apocalypto Frog Scene

Continuing with “Apocalypto” directed by Mel Gibson, who also took part in writing the script and producing. In 2006, around the same time that we discovered that if alcohol enters certain people (Gibson), anti-Semitism may come out of them, Gibson created a ruthless epic film, set in the Mayan kingdom. The hero is “Jaguar Paw” (Rudy Youngblood), a young man chosen to be a human sacrifice by the leaders of the kingdom, to please the gods. But our hero refuses to accept his fate and begins to run, during which he kills quite a few natives.

One of the most striking scenes in the film, in this context, shows the hero – after being almost paralyzed by a poison dart – catching a poison dart frog, taking branches from a wandering tree and turning them into poison darts, which he shoots at his pursuers. Note that Gibson and the team took a different, larger type of frog here and painted it to resemble a poison dart frog. The result is far from impressive, from a naturalist’s point of view, but, hey, at least this frog doesn’t shoot anti-Semitic arrows when it’s drunk.

So it’s true that the chances of you encountering a poison dart frog are pretty slim, both in real life and on the big screen. But the next time you see a frog and think it’s cute or harmless, know that with a little poison, anything can be worse.

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