Why Poison Frogs Don’t Poison Themselves

September 21, 2017 • by Marc Airhart

The answer might provide clues for developing better drugs to fight pain and addiction

This frog was captured at a banana plantation in the Azuay province in southern Ecuador in August 2017.

The phantasmal poison frog, Epipedobates anthonyi, is the original source of epibatidine, discovered by John Daly in 1974. Epibatidine has not been found in any animal outside of Ecuador, and its ultimate source, proposed to be an arthropod, remains unknown. This frog was captured at a banana plantation in the Azuay province in southern Ecuador in August 2017. Credit: Rebecca Tarvin/University of Texas at Austin.


A frog with green, dark brown, light brown and red features

The phantasmal poison frog, Epipedobates anthonyi, is the original source of epibatidine, discovered by John Daly in 1974. Epibatidine has not been found in any animal outside of Ecuador, and its ultimate source, proposed to be an arthropod, remains unknown. This frog was captured at a banana plantation in the Azuay province in southern Ecuador in August 2017. Credit: Rebecca Tarvin/University of Texas at Austin.

A tiny frog in the palm of a hand

The phantasmal poison frog (Epipedobates tricolor) lives in small rocky streams with shallow running water. Photographed in Bolívar Province, Ecuador in August 2017 by Rebecca Tarvin. Credit: Rebecca Tarvin/University of Texas at Austin.

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