Rice blossoms say good year, listen to the sound of frogs.
When people think of frogs, the first thing that comes to mind is beneficial insects, which can prey on insects that are harmful to crops. This is our impression of frogs, but in the big family of frogs, being able to prey on pests is only a basic operation, and frogs have more magical abilities.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > thorny rose, the poison dart frog</h1>
Today, let's talk about the "thorny rose" in the frogs, the poison dart frog, listening to the name, I know that this is not a good guy, yes, I don't hide it, I have a showdown, it is poisonous.
Poison dart frog contains 3 subfamilies, 13 numbers, and 170 species, all distributed in the tropical rainforests of Central and South America. It has a bright color and has different names according to different colors.
There are golden poison dart frog, sapphire poison dart frog, strawberry poison dart frog, red belt poison dart frog, camouflage poison dart frog, yellow-headed poison dart frog, reticulated poison dart frog, red back arrow poison frog, thrush poison frog, blue arrow poison frog, cobalt blue arrow poison frog, ghost arrow poison frog and so on.
Just from the name you can feel the beauty of the poison dart frog, yes, the poison dart frog is the most beautiful frog in the world, and the poison dart frog in Europe and the United States is called "the jewel in the tropical rainforest".
Basic wild sense tells us that the brightly colored creatures in nature cannot be easily provoked, and most of them are poisonous. In fact, for living things, these bright colors are a warning color, used to remind other creatures: "I am not good, stay away from me."
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > deadly toxin, killing 10 adults in three minutes</h1>
How bad is the poison dart frog? In simple terms, Indians needed its venom to hunt large animals.
As early as the beginning of the 16th century, the terrible poison of the poison dart frog was discovered and used by the Indians.
The Indians would first stab the poison dart frog to death with a sharp needle and then roast it on the fire. When the poison dart frog is roasted, the venom is secreted from its glands. At this time, the Indians would rub the arrows or javelins on the body of the poison dart frog back and forth. A poison dart frog can poison 50 darts or arrows.
So how poisonous is this little poison dart frog? For example, the most toxic of the poison dart frog family, the Golden Poison Dart Frog, whose venom is capable of killing 10 adults in as little as three minutes. And there is no solution, at least in terms of the current medical means, as long as it is poisoned by the poisoned frog, the village entrance banquet should be inevitable.
Golden Arrow Poison Frog
Why is this poison so terrible? After a series of complex studies, biologists have discovered that the toxin acts on the inside or outside of axons (axons are a bulge emitted by neurons).
Alkaloids cause irreversible depolarization of axons, reduce the amplitude of potential action, block the exchange of ions in the organism, and make the nerve cell membrane a bad conductor of nerve impulses, so that the nerve center cannot reach the tissues and organs normally when it issues instructions, and eventually causes the heart to stop beating, and there is no effective emergency measure.
However, there is also a limit to the attack of this deadly venom, not to say that it will die when touched. The poison dart frog's venom has a prerequisite, that is, to see blood. It only works when the venom enters the bloodstream, and if there are no wounds on the surface of the body, even if it is contaminated with venom, it will make your fingers allergic or rash at most.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > source of poison dart frog venom</h1>
But it is such a dangerous and highly toxic creature that some people in foreign countries keep it as a pet. Aren't they all afraid of death? Or is it a foreign policy of population control?
A closer look revealed that the poison dart frog was born without poison. Biologists have found that in captivity, as long as their food is changed for a long time, the toxicity of poison dart frogs will disappear. Not to mention the poison dart frogs that are born without contact with poisonous food, and their chances of carrying poison are zero.
And those wild poison dart frogs, their deadly toxins are all formed by eating poisonous animals the day after tomorrow. Great, relying on the day after tomorrow synthesis can form such a deadly poison.
For example, the golden arrow poison frog, which mainly feeds on spiders and ants, and then after a series of chemical reactions, the alkaloids in these foods are converted into their own venom, and then secreted to the skin through the venom glands throughout the body, so that a "thorny rose" is formed.
At this time, do you wonder, since it is an acquired toxin, what does the poison dart frog rely on to protect itself from it? Biologists usually find that it is because the supervising frog has an amino acid mutation that changes their sodium channels so that the alkaloids no longer act on axons, so they are immune to their own toxins.
Although I understand the principle of poison dart frog's autoimmune venom, this is completely different from making an antidote. There is currently no effective detoxification method.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > summary</h1>
For tens of thousands of years, the poison dart frog has "poisoned" the rainforest by virtue of this deadly toxin, without any natural enemies. But strictly speaking, there are still natural enemies, that is, human beings.