(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Scientists have discovered two new types of extremely poisonous frogs deep within the Amazon forests according to a report by Live Science. This is the first time that venomous frogs which can not only secrete poison but are also armed with weapons that can deliver this poison into the bodies of victims have been discovered. The findings were published in the journal Current Biology last week.
Many amphibians secrete poisons using skin glands to ward off predators. Some frog species are among the most toxic animals on Earth. For instance the two-inch-long golden poison dart frog has enough toxin to kill ten grown men and the indigenous Ember people of Colombia have used its poison for centuries in their blowgun darts.
The newly discovered Aparasphenodon brunoi and Corythomantis greeningi frogs are armed with bony spines on their noses jaws and the backs of their heads. They have unusually flexible necks for frogs and when grabbed these amphibians release venom from the skin glands around their spines and flex their heads jabbing and rubbing their spines into whatever grabs them.
According to a research team led by Carlos Jared a herpetologist at the Instituto Butantan in Brazil a single gram of the venom from the Aparasphenodon brunoi could kill more than 300000 mice or about 80 humans while a gram of the venom from its less venomous cousin the Corythomantis greeningi could kill as many as six humans. In comparison the venom of the deadly Bothrops pit viper snake is only half as lethal as that of Corythomantis greeningi and 25 times less dangerous as that of Aparasphenodon brunoi.
'The strength of toxicity of the skin secretions is remarkable' said Edmund Brodie a biology professor at Utah State University and one of the paper's co-authors. 'Amphibians have a wide array of skin toxins that have been well-studied but this mechanism of transmitting the toxin as a venom has not been found before. It moves the study of amphibian defences to a new level.'
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