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Poisonous amphibian

Amphibians that produce poison

Summary

Amphibians that produce poison

Poisonous amphibians are amphibians that produce toxins to defend themselves from predators.

Amphibians

Most toxic amphibians are poisonous to touch or eat. These amphibians usually sequester toxins from animals and plants on which they feed, commonly from poisonous insects or poisonous plants. Except certain salamandrid salamanders that can extrude sharp venom-tipped ribs, and two species of frogs with venom-tipped bone spurs on their skulls, amphibians are not known to actively inject venom.

Toxic Frogs and Toads

An example of poison ingestion derives from the poison dart frog. They get a deadly chemical called lipophilic alkaloid from consuming a poisonous food in the rainforest. They are immune to the poison and they secrete it through their skin as a defense mechanism against predators. This poison is so efficient, the native people of the South American Amazon rainforest use the frogs' toxins on their weapons to kill their prey, giving the frogs their nickname the "poison dart frog".

ImageScientific nameActive agentDistribution
[[File:Dendrobatidae Diversity.jpg120px]]Dendrobatidae Poison Dart Frogslipophilic alkaloid toxins: allopumiliotoxin 267A, batrachotoxin, epibatidine, histrionicotoxin, pumiliotoxin 251Dhumid, tropical environments of Central and South America
[[File:Golden Mantelle (Mantella aurantiaca), Torotorofotsy marshes, Madagascar (13795093335).jpg120px]]Mantella genus Golden frogs or Malagasy poison frogsalkaloid toxinsMadagascar
northern corroboree frog (Pseudophryne pengilleyi)pseudo-phrynamineSouthern Tablelands of Australia.
[[File:CorroboreeFrog.jpg120px]]southern corroboree frog (Pseudophryne corroboree)pseudo-phrynamineSouthern Tablelands of Australia.
[[File:Perereca-de-capacete - Aparasphenodon brunoi.jpg120px]]Bruno's casque-headed frog (Aparasphenodon brunoi)last1=Jaredfirst1=Carloslast2=Mailho-Fontanafirst2=Pedro Luizlast3=Antoniazzifirst3=Marta Marialast4=Mendesfirst4=Vanessa Aparecidalast5=Barbarofirst5=Katia Cristinalast6=Rodriguesfirst6=Miguel Trefautlast7=Brodiefirst7=Edmund D.title=Venomous Frogs Use Heads as Weaponsjournal=Current Biologypublisher=Elsevier BVvolume=25issue=16year=2015issn=0960-9822doi=10.1016/j.cub.2015.06.061pages=2166–2170pmid=26255851url =https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(15)00788-5.pdfdoi-access=freebibcode=2015CBio...25.2166J }}Brazil
Greening's frog (Corythomantis greeningi)Unknown injectable venomBrazil
[[File:Atelopus zeteki1.jpg120px]]Panamanian golden frog (Atelopus zeteki)Zetekitoxin AB, BufadienolideCentral Panama.
[[File:Bufo americanus Side.JPG120px]]American toad (Anaxyrus americanus)Bufotoxineastern United States and Canada.
[[File:2009-03-13Bufo alvarius067.jpg120px]]Colorado River toad (Incilius alvarius)5-MeO-DMT, Bufoteninsoutheastern California, New Mexico, Mexico and much of southern Arizona
[[File:Bufo arenarum.jpg120px]]Rhinella arenarumBufotoxinArgentina from the Chubut Province northward, Bolivia east of the Andes, southern Brazil, and Uruguay
[[File:Asian Giant Toad.jpg120px]]Asian giant toad (Phrynoidis asper)BufotoxinMainland Southeast Asia and the Greater Sundas.
Colombian giant toad, Blomberg's toad (Rhaebo blombergi)Bufotoxinwestern Colombia (Chocó, Valle del Cauca, Cauca, and Nariño Departments) and northwestern Ecuador (Carchi, Esmeraldas, and Imbabura Provinces)
[[File:003 western toad nwwd odfw (7490423060).jpg120px]]western toad (Anaxyrus boreas)Bufotoxinwestern British Columbia and southern Alaska south through Washington, Oregon, and Idaho to northern Baja California, Mexico; east to Montana, western and central Wyoming, Nevada, the mountains and higher plateaus of Utah, and western Colorado.
[[File:Au1200kroetebufobufo2018c85.jpg120px]]common toad, European toad Bufo bufobufotalin, bufalitoxin and bufotoxinEurope
[[File:Bufo gargarizans.jpg120px]]Asiatic toad or Chusan Island toad (Bufo gargarizans)BufotoxinEast Asia.
[[File:Bufo gutturalis.jpg120px]]African common toad or guttural toad (Sclerophrys gutturalis)BufotoxinAngola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Réunion, Somalia, South Africa, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
[[File:Bufo japonicus DSCN9878.jpg120px]]Japanese common toad, Japanese warty toad or Japanese toad (Bufo japonicus)bufotalin, BufotoxinJapan and is present on the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku
[[File:Bufo fowleri, Missouri Ozarks.JPG120px]]Fowler's toad (Anaxyrus fowleri)Bufotoxineastern United States and parts of adjacent Canada
[[File:Bufo marinus01b.jpg120px]]cane toad (Rhinella marina)Bufotoxin, BufoteninRio Grande Valley in South Texas to the central Amazon and southeastern Peru, and some of the continental islands near Venezuela (such as Trinidad and Tobago) Introduced in Australia, Florida and Hawaii, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Ogasawara, Ishigaki Island and the Daitō Islands of Japan, most Caribbean islands, Fiji and many other Pacific islands
[[File:Bufo melanosticus 01.JPG120px]]Asian common toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus)BufotoxinSouth and Southeast Asia.
[[File:Bufo peltocephalus01.jpg120px]]Peltophryne peltocephalaBufotoxinCuba
[[File:Bufo quercicus.jpg120px]]oak toad (Anaxyrus quercicus)Bufotoxinsoutheastern United States.
[[File:Pantherkroete-04.jpg120px]]African common toad, square-marked toad, African toad (Sclerophrys regularis)BufotoxinAngola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Uganda.
[[File:Bufo valliceps02.jpg120px]]Gulf Coast toad (Incilius valliceps)Bufotoxineastern and southeastern Mexico and Central America as far south as Costa Rica.
[[File:Bufo viridis.jpg120px]]European green toad (Bufotes viridis)Bufotoxinmainland Europe, ranging from far eastern France and Denmark to the Balkans and Western Russia.

Toxic Salamanders

ImageScientific nameActive agentDistribution
[[File:Taricha granulosa (Rough-skinned newt).JPG120px]]Taricha genus Western NewtTetrodotoxinPacific coastal region from southern Alaska to southern California, and Mexico
[[File:Triturus marmoratus1.JPG120px]]Triturus genus crested and the marbled newtsTetrodotoxinGreat Britain through most of continental Europe to westernmost Siberia, Anatolia, and the Caspian Sea region
[[File:Notophthalmus viridescensPCCA20040816-3983A.jpg120px]]Notophthalmus genuslast1=Spicerfirst1=Mackenzie M.last2=Stokesfirst2=Amber N.last3=Chapmanfirst3=Trevor L.last4=Brodiefirst4=Edmund D.last5=Brodiefirst5=Edmund D.last6=Gallfirst6=Brian G.title=An Investigation into Tetrodotoxin (TTX) Levels Associated with the Red Dorsal Spots in Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) Efts and Adultsjournal=Journal of Toxicologyvolume=2018date=2018-09-02pages=1–4issn=1687-8191doi=10.1155/2018/9196865pmid=30245715pmc=6139183doi-access=free }}eastern United States, Mexico
[[File:Feuersalamander portrait.jpg120px]]Salamandra genuslast1=Lüddeckefirst1=Timlast2=Schulzfirst2=Stefanlast3=Steinfartzfirst3=Sebastianlast4=Vencesfirst4=Migueltitle=A salamander's toxic arsenal: review of skin poison diversity and function in true salamanders, genus Salamandrajournal=The Science of Naturepublisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLCvolume=105issue=9–10date=2018-09-04page=56issn=0028-1042doi=10.1007/s00114-018-1579-4pmid=30291447bibcode=2018SciNa.105...56Ls2cid=52924816 }}southern and central Europe
[[File:Pleurodeles waltl 02 by-dpc.jpg120px]]Iberian ribbed newt (Pleurodeles waltl)title=Newts with superpowers - Lab Animaljournal=Lab Animaldate=July 2014volume=43issue=7pages=231doi=10.1038/laban.575last1=Rosaniafirst1=Karapmid=24945218s2cid=1977413doi-access=free }}central and southern Iberian Peninsula and Morocco.

Recreational ingestion of toxins

Some people use the bufotoxins of some species of toxic toads as a drug to get high, but this can become very dangerous. Usually due to the toads' size and toxicity, the poisons would not be deadly to a fully grown, healthy adult. But if too much of the toxin is absorbed, or if the person is young or ill, then the poisons can become a serious threat. It also depends on species: some amphibians do have toxins strong enough to kill even a healthy mature person within just a few minutes, while other species may not have toxins potent enough to have any effect. Licking toads is not biologically practical. For these tryptamines to be orally activated, the human monoamine oxidase system must be inhibited. Therefore, licking a poisonous amphibian will not guarantee a sufficient dose.

References

References

  1. "Venomous Amphibians (Page 1) - Reptiles (Including Dinosaurs) and Amphibians - Ask a Biologist Q&A". Askabiologist.org.uk.
  2. Robert T. Nowak. (1978). "Rib Penetration and Associated Antipredator Adaptations in the Salamander Pleurodeles waltl (Salamandridae)". [[Copeia]].
  3. (2015). "Venomous Frogs Use Heads as Weapons". Elsevier BV.
  4. (2018-09-02). "An Investigation into Tetrodotoxin (TTX) Levels Associated with the Red Dorsal Spots in Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) Efts and Adults". Journal of Toxicology.
  5. (2018-09-04). "A salamander's toxic arsenal: review of skin poison diversity and function in true salamanders, genus Salamandra". Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
  6. (July 2014). "Newts with superpowers - Lab Animal". Lab Animal.
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