As promised, here are photos of the Campaña poison frogs currently on view as part of the phenomenal Frogs: A Chorus of Colors show at the American Museum of Natural History. Earlier this week we shared a bunch of photos of some of the 200 frogs in the exhibit, but we saved the deadliest amphibians for last. These are the deceptively adorable dart-poison frogs of Central and South America, so-named because the Emberá Chocó people of northwestern Colombia poison their blow darts by coating them with secretions from the backs of three local and highly toxic species of frogs. How poisonous are they?
These frogs are so poisonous that a single golden poison frog can kill 20,000 mice or 10 humans! The museum has 100 of various varieties, representing 12 species and housed in two separate enclosures, where only a thin layer of glass stands between you and them. The museum insists that these frogs were bred in captivity, and have been fed a diet that lacks poisonous compounds, rendering them harmless. But just because they've lost some of their edge, that doesn't make them any less fascinating!
