The Insane Biology of: The Poison Dart Frog

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Robert Thompson
Keith Skipper
Credits:
Narrator: Stephanie Sammann
Writer: Lorraine Boissoneault
Editor: Dylan Hennessy (www.behance.net/dylanhennessy1)
Illustrator: Jacek Ambrożewski
Illustrator/Animator: Kirtan Patel (kpatart.com/illustrations)
Animator: Mike Ridolfi (www.moboxgraphics.com/)
Sound: Graham Haerther (haerther.net)
Thumbnail: Simon Buckmaster ( / forgottentowel )
Producer: Brian McManus ( / realengineering )
REFERENCES
[1] hero.epa.gov/hero/index.cfm/r...
[2] www.researchgate.net/publicat...
[3] onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...
[4] www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073...
[5] journals.biologists.com/jeb/a...
[6] www.researchgate.net/publicat...
[7] ralphsaporito.weebly.com/uplo...
[8] www.pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1073/...
[9] www.science.org/doi/10.1126/s...
[10] ralphsaporito.weebly.com/uplo...
[11] www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
[12] ralphsaporito.weebly.com/uplo...
[13] ralphsaporito.weebly.com/uplo...
[14] pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11272....

[@naturegirl92584]

Fun fact: One of these fabulous frogs was at a zoo in Arizona, and my mother, while wearing a BRIGHT yellow shirt with small black triangles, walked up to it's tank. An he was SMITTEN. He marched right up to her and attempted to woo her. I have a picture of it and it's one of the timeless things we own.

[@recoil53]

I admire the confidence of that frog. "She's 1000x bigger than me, but I think I have a shot".

[@naturegirl92584]

@@recoil53 I had the picture labeled, "what a woman!"

[@nenmaster5218]

The 'Science-Anime' Dr Stone is pretty good. Watch it if you havent. Watch it and then help me figure-out some of science cause science is cool

[@Ac3Mustang]

"Whoa big lady!😈" The frog probably

[@quentinlelievre276]

Remind me of the british guy being shagged by a parrot

[@joseb.junior1455]

It's impressive what these little frogs can do even without a degree in chemistry.

[@Jay-jb2vr]

*"duh-gree"*

[@martingonzalez3629]

Biology will always be better at practicing chemistry than trained human chemists :D

[@asbestoz1123]

@@martingonzalez3629Eventually that won’t be true

[@johnmichaeltau]

Designed by a superior Intelligence (i.e. God). No way you perfect working with such dangerous toxins through trial and error.

[@Flesh_Wizard]

​@@martingonzalez3629mother nature is the best chemist in the universe

[@MyPhobo]

Solid snake voice: "Yeah, but how does it taste?"

[@donmclemore1396]

Lol, metal gear solid. My favorite video game.

[@healthycomments]

The “f*ck around & find out part” caught me off guard😂

[@bryanx0317]

Ribbit around... HUGE difference

[@althechicken9597]

​@@bryanx0317 croak* around, find out

[@mikemorsing99]

Missed the chance to say "Frog around and find out"

[@Quan-bo4np]

When did she say that lol

[@jeramietraylor9662]

😂😂😂😂 right

[@Davethreshold]

Seriously, those little buggers are some of the most BEAUTIFUL creatures I have ever seen. "In fact, they're downright flamboyant." LOL!!❤

[@realscience]

completely agree. I can't believe how vibrant and varied they are. how lucky are we to live on this planet with them

[@landonfolken03]

Flamboyant Death sounds like a great band name

[@Davethreshold]

@@landonfolken03 Yes! Super mega-metal!

[@Jennifer-go3zq]

Their beauty should inspire respect they are frogs not "buggers"!!!!

[@Karagoth444]

8:00 Minor feedback: ☢ is warning of ionizing radioactivity, there is another for biohazard that seems more fitting: ☣ (U+2623). It also looks way cooler. Thank you for the video!

[@eSKAone-]

Yea she makes lot's of errors (for "real" science). It's a little annoying.

[@rickyspanish492]

​@@eSKAone-What's a lot? How many does she make in this video? It's easy to be critical, I find myself being overly so lots of times. Remember that this is one of the good channels. It is actively trying to provide as accurate, interesting and informative content as possible. One also has to consider that we are all human, we all make mistakes and that finding all research or knowledge on a subject can be difficult. Then that information has to be presented in a comprehensible way. Compared to channels that are actively, knowingly putting out false and misleading information I would say this channel meets the level of academic acceptability.

[@martijn9568]

​@@rickyspanish492Labratory hazard signs should be part of basic biological knowledge. I personally feel like that this is claiming that a Salamander is reptile instead of an amfibian.

[@rickyspanish492]

@@martijn9568 I "personally feel" (oh the irony) that you just want to hate on something if you're grasping that hard. Seems like you ignored my previous comment. If you don't appreciate channels like this and the work they do, then why are you here? Get lost, and take your negative downer personality with you.

[@hgks12]

@@rickyspanish492 You can appreciate something while also giving constructive criticism. What I don't understand, however, is how you can tell someone to take their negative downer personality away while being the person with that personality yourself and not seeing the irony of your statement.

[@pabloperez41]

Hey, RealScience team. I really enjoy watching your videos and learn new and enriching facts about different species or lineages. I have a humble request for you. I'd really love if you could make a video about urochordates. These organisms, brothers of vertebrates, are in my opinion one of the most amazing branches of evolution known to mankind. They are like the Mr. Potato of the animal kingdom, presenting characteristics (celulose tissues, placentary viviparism, larvae presenting a self-made bubble for feeding) unimaginable to most of us. Love u all

[@realscience]

that sounds interesting! I will do some research about it!

[@madezra64]

An excellent suggestion! :D

[@alexpoole5552]

Could this be any more set up. Thx, genuinely, science team

[@harimauindia5775]

​@@realscienceI didn't expect that line at 0:27😅

[@ray4237]

or bobit worm @@realscience

[@dangerousbutterknife7988]

Due to their flamboyant coloring and toxins, these guys are bold! They won't be spooked nearly as easily as other frogs, and their wonderful personalities make them extremely charismatic. My phyllobates vittatus duo are wonderful to watch. Bert and Ernie will live like the little kings they are.

[@xitheris1758]

Many birds are smart enough to learn through observation and even verbally teach their offspring. They could be taught, during chickhood, to not die from eating a colorful frog like Aunt (name squawk) did.

[@CAMSLAYER13]

True but you also eventually get to a point where its an innate response

[@rickyspanish492]

​​@@CAMSLAYER13This is evidenced in cats, humans, and other primates' responses to snakes. There is (could be wrong, but this is how I learned it) a genetic code responsible for that fear response to snakes. I imagine because snakes are incredibly dangerous to mammals, particularly tree dwelling cats and primates. So it is innate, it is ingrained in our dna.

[@mattblake9936]

A lot of birds can eat some of the frogs with weaker toxins, I would think they have been evolving to tolerate the toxin more.

[@SemiPolymath]

It has been over 50 years since I unexpectedly encountered a poison dart frog in a southern california creek, scaring the living daylights out of my child self. Better late than never to discover that, so far from its native diet, it probably wasn't poisonous after all. Also, thanks to the entire Real Science team for such great topics, video footage, and understandable science that is never dumbed down--you are a KZbin gem as beautiful as the frogs in this episode!

[@dustman96]

"mighty little murderers". I'd call that pretty dumb

[@dindon6947]

@@dustman96 Let the poetry be

[@SB-qm5wg]

I'd be more scared running into a snake than a poison frog. It's not like the frog is going to leap-attack you Monty Python style.

[@landonfolken03]

​@@SB-qm5wgHe's got huge, long-- eh-- he can leap about-- look at the colors!

[@mattblake9936]

There was in no way a poison dart frog in California, you were mistaken.

[@amin2047]

I discovered this channel recently and i have already watched 80% of the videos on it, you present the information in a very very interesting and entertaining way and i have learned so many new things from these videos, thanks so much Real Sciense!

[@jbtechcon7434]

For some reason I read, "The Insane Biology Of The Poison Fart Dog". Could you do that topic next?

[@TheTELproductions]

lmao

[@OLDMANTEA]

If cannibals were to consider eating me, they should think about all the processed foods I’ve eaten.

[@jwnomad]

I would never eat a smoker

[@wheelchair_charlie]

Damn! Talk about "You are what you eat!" Thx for this amazing info packed video on these fascinating frogs RS!

[@cristiantrushin]

This was an amazing episode. I am very glad to have found your channel on Nebula. Keep up the great work guys, this extremely valuable and interesting content.

[@nenmaster5218]

The 'Science-Anime' Dr Stone is pretty good. Watch it if you havent. Watch it and then help me figure-out some of science cause science is cool

[@hNsGregrz]

they quality of your videos keeps getting better. Thanks for this, i really enjoyed it.

[@unnamedchannel1237]

Pitty about the loud music

[@Sunflowersarepretty]

These frogs are cute but deadly. I love these vidoes. Also the thumbnails of these vidoes is always designed to be catchy.

[@hi_tech_reptiles]

They are super common in (legal, usually captive bred or legally obtained) captivity, or at least some species, which is good given how many are threatened in the wild (among other frogs in general) The coolest other fact is the tiny non-tadpole size of the babies! They leave tadpole phase at a small size, given the nature of their reproductive/life cycle. They are just teeny tiny frogs lol. Super adorable.

[@Cleeon]

Which kind of species is it?

[@Vafzli]

great video and the explanation of the nerve shutting down was amazing.

[@elraviv]

at 0:33 you said that "just 2/10 of a μg could kill a human". but your own slide shows otherwise. it says 0.2μg PER KG for LD50. meaning for an average 75kg human, a dose of 75*0.2=15μg has only 50% chance of killing him.

[@doobie7105]

Quick maths bro bravo 👏

[@SuperMuppy]

1 Poison dart frog can kill 20 people or 20,000 mice. The math might not add up cause she made a mistake in the video but shes not wrong. Why dont you eat one and see how that works out for you bro.

[@elraviv]

@@SuperMuppy you should improve your reading comprehension and math skills, I never wrote that it was not poisonous, just pointed her math mistake.

[@SuperMuppy]

@@elraviv Ok smart guy. 😂😂😂😂😂

[@dmvbay2535]

That's assuming a dose is actually 15μg. It's probably way higher so you can forget about maybe making it out alive.

[@brianrussell7691]

Really enjoy your videos. I’m not a chemist or biologist. My Mom was a PhD in virology, not me. I grew up in the shallow end of that gene pool, I’m afraid. So some of your script I have to pause the video and google certain things and resume. Still, I love it! Thank you and keep your Real Science videos coming. BTW, congrats Stephanie on your recent wedding!

[@user-hs4ih8zp7e]

Ask her why the US government will not investigate the origin of covid 19 since we all know now it didnt come from a mammal

[@KnowledgeCat]

Really appreciate these amazing videos!

[@Science4Kidz123]

Thank you so much for this video, very interesting to learn! As someone who also has a science KZbin channel and is science obsessed I love your educational videos. Keep posting!

[@UlisesBarrera]

Man I love these videos, but the thing I love the most is the vibe and sci-fi music, the footage, graphs. Excellent work.

[@gottafly125]

Few years ago I was at the Minnesota Zoo in their jungle area. They had a bunch of these frogs in cases on one side of the walk way, but on the left there were a few just chilling outside of their cases, hanging out on leaves... like 5 feet from where people were walking... no protection.

[@user-hs4ih8zp7e]

👏

[@connerrabbe5093]

Literally seen the same thing! How are they out with no protection!

[@kjack111683]

She said in video they get fed a diet that results in no poison being created

[@adamnagy4544]

They are sooo cute ❤❤ I own two kind, Dendrobates Azureus (blue one, with back spots), and D. Auratus (green and black) 😊 Obv capt breed. The auratus pair just started to breed, now I need to learn to deal with tadpoles 😅

[@ravosavo]

The exotic pet trade is not why these frogs are in decline in nature. It's agriculture, forestry and air pollution that is wiping them out. In fact, ethical groups catch wild frogs, collect their egg and raise them to distribute to breeders in Europe and the US. They then re-release the parents. Captive bred frogs are the VAST majority of the exotic pet market. Oh, and these group breeding in Central and South America use the money to conserve rainforest by buying land. Along with ethical tropical fish exporters, the pet trade is probably doing more to save the rainforest and pay the locals real $ than many governments (or many enviro non-profits). But very well done documentary. Great explanation of the frog toxins.

[@_ayush_oswal]

Just love the insane biology series❤❤❤ , keep 'em coming

[@mark11967AD]

Most science channels offer species bios that simply hint at the surface of fascinating processes of these animals whereas this channel gives all the details and imagery and the writing is terrific. Awesome channel new subscriber!! The toxic bank account and chemical conversion of Dart frogs along with their other worldly colors and patterns makes them one of the most exotic and coolest species on the planet.

[@knr1]

a few years ago during a trip, my friend's kid briefly held one of those (it had multiple colours, idk if thats important) with their hands... out of innocence/curiosity. The only thing between them and death was the ""protective"" clothing and accessories the mother had put in them, which I guess worked as a thick-layered barrier between the venom and the kid's skin. Nevertheless, they were rushed to a hospital just to be sure... idk the details, but the kid is fine today. It was af to the parents, to the point my friend (dad) continues in therapy due to PTSD today, 6~7 years later. Bizarre...

[@athos9293]

That's dope

[@xINVISIGOTHx]

what?

[@Vizal]

​@@xINVISIGOTHxI'm confused by the style too lol

[@aero-space541]

Ptsd from touching a frog? I have dart frogs in my living room... Lol

[@Infernoraptor]

​@aero-space541 I think op meant that the kid's dad got ptsd from the kid being so close to dying. He probably feels he should have watched his kid better and that he should have better prepared the kid before getting into a potentially dangerous environment.

[@saranshgautam6551]

Another wonderfully made, informative video!! Love this channel ❤

[@Nessa-sj9ko]

From someone who’s studying Nuerons for the MCAT …. This mini lesson on polarization was probably the best thing I’ve watched all year !

[@fitnesspoint2006]

You need to up your game if thats the best thing you watched all year.

[@acephas3]

Years ago in Costa Rica, we went on a Zoo tour. The a lady had a Golden Dart Frog jump on her. We all thought that she was going to die. She didn’t, but everyone was certain (including the staff) that she was a goner.

[@SB-qm5wg]

Luckily it was just a golden dart frog and not the golden poison dart frog so false alarm 😸 Seriously, they had a zoo where poisonous _anything_ can just jump around and get out? 😆

[@acephas3]

@@SB-qm5wg It was wild and I think that zoo got shut down. Oh yes, in one room all of the Poison Dart Frogs were free to roam.

[@mattblake9936]

The staff is very stupid considering you can technically hold them. You don’t want to eat them or rub them in a cut.

[@mattblake9936]

@@acephas3 golden poison frogs are from Colombia, not Costa Rica. It was not wild.

[@abhidey646]

Such a fantastic video to watch with the fam on Thanksgiving weekend!

[@Hogstrictors]

Really cool and interesting video. Subscribed, cant wait to see more.

[@jeffreyjeffrey007]

I do enjoy hearing your tech talk. Came from Real Engineering. Happily so. Subbed.

[@valariemeltzer1059]

I love poison dart frogs. The local zoo has a few colors blue, red, and orange might be more hiding because they have an all natural live plant enclosure.

[@benjaminlessard8710]

Very informative video!

[@ChGerasi]

Wow, great video and very well-researched. I would also be very interested in a video about the Draco lizards.They are small, arboreal reptiles found in Southeast Asia that can glide between trees using specialized wing-like structures built of elongated ribs and a membrane of skin to achieve controlled gliding. It is a unique adaptation for aerial movement

[@user-vt5rv2nj3v]

I can't get enough of this!

[@GrantVanderKlipp]

This video is awesome. Loved it

[@thepilotman5378]

As a person who has always been around wildlife, it surprises me when people genuinely don't know that bright colors, no obvious protective features, and it's walking/crawling in the open without a hurry are all signs that you should not only avoid eating it, but often touching too. Some locusts and beatles will make you horribly sick if you happen to even eat a sandwich after picking one up. And to be honest I kinda leaned that without anyone telling me AND without eating any bright creatures. It just one of those "no other creature is doing it so it must be bad" scenarios. Birds probably do the same and know not to eat them. Another possibility that I've personally seen happen is birds typically prey on animals or insects they got from mom from before they could fly. If mom went on to get a poison frog she wouldn't come back and the chicks would die; therefore introducing pressure and a filter to avoid the frogs.

[@ExcavationNation]

Who else just ate a yellow frog and is freaking out.

[@DailyKach]

I can't pay Nebula in my country but i can deduce from this video that if this is the free content the paid content is WAAAAY better Keep up the hard work

[@knellycornnan5132]

These frogs are basically alchemists of the Amazon.

[@ryanrodriguez1234]

This was pleasantly way more informative then i was expecting.

[@chaunceyroberts6958]

Absolutely amazing.

[@migz8024]

I love this channel so much.

[@thegunslinger1363]

Could you do this sort of video on the Amur Tiger?

[@Logosguy-fv1bj]

amazingly complex and designed creatures.

[@Naedlus]

Neat finding out about it being through sequestration. I've heard about it being a method of acquiring poisonous status for geckos and garter snakes, it's interesting to know it's also the method for those lethal cuties.

[@avishekchakraborty8289]

Truly amazing video as always, but I had a suggestion, a rather ambitious one tbh, can you make a video summarising all of evolution? like explaining and visualising the evolutionary tree or something along that sorts, would be the cherry on top of your already phenomenal content! Have a great day and never stop Real Science!

[@sonsofthewestredwhiteblue5317]

“Nobody calls me yellow” - This guy.

[@Jumper1155]

Hi ^^ Great video, as always! If you ever want to make a video on velvet worms I might be able to get you into contact with one of the leading experts on the topic since he's my zoology professor. I don't know if that ever becomes relevant, but if you do and you remember this, let me know. Hope you have a great day!

[@ray4237]

love this

[@pameladeleone135]

Fascinating!

[@KVenturi]

The one wearing blue jeans looks 🔥

[@josephthomas8318]

I was obsessed with poison dart frogs as a kid. They look soooo cool

[@esajunttila5486]

150 years in, and blind evolution of frogs keeps outsmarting scientists.

[@ComradeCoy]

Kinda crazy that I've owned Golden Dart Frogs and just helped my buddy set up a vivarium for some a few months ago. I know they don't have much if any poison in captivity eating fruit flies and crickets but we still take no chances.

[@sirgregor8226]

They are like tiny Sith Lords. Love them.

[@EyesOfByes]

So...Drop a thousand of these in King Kong's mouth and Bob's your uncle.

[@Maciek-yn8li]

Those frog spieces names are so cute. _strawberry poison frog_

[@eviebee]

Frogs are terrifying. I never thought id say that

[@NormanInAustralia]

Thanks!

[@chelseashurmantine8153]

Wow that spider eating that frog was awesome

[@jakevote8978]

Imagine the lab where they tested how many mice it could kill

[@Richy-Nguyen0991]

best sciene channel on KZbin . Yall work too hard for this .

[@tallymudasia5163]

SAY IT LOUDER, i learn more in 1 hour from this channel than I did through all of highschool lol

[@Richy-Nguyen0991]

@@tallymudasia5163 Im a 32 yrs old ass man that love science and this channel is too close to perfect 👍🏻

[@anthonyduffy6953]

I saw them in my local aquarium/reptile shop and was disappointed when they said theyre not poisonous because theyre not wild

[@melodyparra2960]

Such beautiful and bright vivid colors, And so small That you wouldn’t think that such a tiny creature could do so much damage and kill you

[@Tobi-pp2wz]

I'm going to buy a couple. they amazing to watch

[@jonathangauthier3549]

❤ I'd like to understand the physical sensations, and perhaps the thought process of a predator after it has bitten down on a dart frog. For example: when you showed the clip of the snake eating the frog. Did the neuro toxins cause the snake to feel sensations similar to a brain-freeze, an acidic burn, scalding heat, extreme bitterness similiar to Buckley's cough syrup? In other words, how can I best imagine the sensation of a fatal snack through common experiences that we all HAVE experienced or likely will in the future?

[@tristandaries1129]

Imagine a crossover between these guys and the rare occurrence of raining frogs

[@SB-qm5wg]

Their colors are really gorgeous.

[@infinitemonkey917]

Also interesting are critters that mimic poisonous or venomous species to trick predators.

[@zajournals]

I have several vivariums with dart frogs. They aren't poisonous raised in captivity.

[@pvsimson]

Very cool video. I wonder if there isn't a better comparison of lethality tho. The Inland Taipan is venomous, so I don't think it's great comparison. Learned a lot tho, thank you.

[@kenmilne5987]

As a proud Australian I am profoundly disappointed that the Worlds Most Deadly Animal is not found here. We Aussies need to lift our game in this regard,

[@ConcreteLand]

Maybe you can import some frogs to live in Australia. Something like that could never go wrong. 😳

[@Flesh_Wizard]

Gotta make better spiders. Maybe a Huntsman with botulinum?

[@autonomous8108]

Hey, you may not have the strongest, but you have the most variety, and they're all 1000x scarier looking 😂

[@Wormweed]

These frogs are VERY noisy! I saw them at a reptile zoo and they never shut up, and they only had a handful of them. They were very beautiful though, and small.

[@Dm0stFin3sT]

Wow the Red and Blue frog was amazing

[@annagruber7040]

This got me thinking about that scene from Apocalypto🐸

[@haramsaddam238]

I have two captive bred dart frogs - an Azureus named Rico and a mint Terribilis named Zim. Underrated hands-off pets

[@rickyspanish492]

Sequestration is definitely a word-of-the-day candidate.

[@Deviantial]

Question: at the start of the video she says 0.2 ug could kill a human, but the stat on screen shows 0.2ug/kg, so for a 70kg person like myself wouldn't it be 14ug?

[@FOWST]

It's a horrifying thought that someone killed 20.000 mice for science using this frog.

[@641mamaluigi]

4:01 the ability to eat something poisonous and use it for your own body may be uncommon in nature but lepidopterans (butterflies/moths) do it all the time the monarch butterfly being a common example, though unlike the frogs those caterpillars HAVE to eat those toxic leaves in order to survive (even in captivity) as they’d rather die than eat anything else.

[@Sshodan]

Deadly... But so cute! :D Love these frogs :)

[@harleyfroment1989]

thats so cool! i had no idea their poison is sequestered from the prey they eat!

[@dondraper3871]

The Poison Dart Frog - The most poisonous creature in the world... after politicians

[@animalblundetto8440]

Edgy

[@JuliusCaribou]

You've got a frog going mental, killing thousands a people, then you've got a turkey whos whistling for elp

[@MrReymoclif714]

Mighty Little Murderers?

[@shirinmimashangva1040]

their color camouflage print will be nice on cars, tanks and planes

[@darkhorsegarage9623]

I got in a customers car. She was a collage student and the headliner of the car had fallen down. She covered the whole inside roof of her car with plastic poison dart frogs.

[@zegreatpumpkinani9161]

They can quite literally just stand there... menacingly...

[@andrewliu4966]

RealScience team, can you please do the velvet worm next?

[@dextermorgan1]

A Coffeeshop in Amsterdam had one of these frogs. It was beautiful but also deadly.

[@Volvith]

Honestly, the way that other animals learnt to not touch the bright frogs is kind of like this: Steve: "YO LOOK EASY FOOD" Andrew: "Steve... Are you... Why are you not moving?" ... Andrew to other birbs: _"Yo if you touch those frog things you f*cking _*_die."_*

[@abstragento0087]

Thx

[@amr7206]

Wait until these scientist learn about biology and toxicity of my ex

[@mistermysteryman107]

And yes they are soooo adorable.

[@dylanlang8859]

With the poison absorption it could be a process similar to electrolysis where certain substances (poison) get attracted to the digestive system walls and possibly go to micro glands that can change its composition and disperse it throughout the skin leaving nutrients to go through the rest of the digestive process