Golden Poison Dart Frog
Golden Poison Dart Frog
Phyllobates terribilis
Amphibia
ENDANGERED

Stats

Lifespan
10-15 yrs
Size
Medium
Diet
Insectivore
Activity
Diurnal
Social
Solitary
Biome
Tropical rainforest
Range
South America
Movement
Hopping
Breeding
Egg-laying
Defense
Toxins
Status
Endangered

About

The golden poison dart frog is the most toxic vertebrate on Earth — a single adult carries enough batrachotoxin in its skin to kill ten adult humans. Indigenous Emberá hunters in Colombia rub blowgun darts across its back to coat them with venom, making this tiny frog one of the most dangerous animals alive.

Life cycle

  1. 1.
    egg
    A jelly-coated egg is laid in water and develops over days into an aquatic larva.
  2. 2.
    tadpole
    A gilled tadpole swims and grazes on algae, slowly absorbing its tail and growing limbs.
  3. 3.
    juvenile
    A near-adult amphibian leaves the water with new legs and lungs, smaller than the mature form.
  4. 4.
    adult
    Fully grown at adult size, breathing air.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Amphibia
Order
Anura
Family
Dendrobatidae
Genus
Phyllobates
Species
Phyllobates terribilis