Now We Know Why Poison Frogs Don't Poison Themselves | 台北市立動物園資訊網

2017年9月28日—Suriname'sbluepoisondartfrog(Dendrobatestinctoriusazureus)....attheUniversityofTexasatAustinandNationalGeographicSociety ...

Deep in the forests of South America live poison dart frogs[1] that carry around a toxin 200 times more potent than morphine[2]. While it packs a fatal punch for predators, the poison doesnt much affect the frogs. How?

Their nervous systems have changed over time to fight off the powerful chemicals—an extraordinary example of evolution in action, according to a new study.

“I’ve been wanting to understand how organisms could acquire neurotoxins, [which] requires an animal to reorganize their nervous system,” says study coauthor Rebecca Tarvin[3], a biologist at the University of Texas at Austin and National Geographic Society[4] grantee.

“It almost seems unlikely that something like that would evolve.”

Poison frogs dont actually make their own poison: They get it from eating mites and ants. Bright colors then warn any pr...