A team of Florida International University zoologists studying poison arrow frogs in South America have identified the source of the colorful critters' toxicity. Researchers have long known that the amphibians do not produce the toxic compounds, alkaloids, themselves, but were uncertain of their origins. The FIU team discovered that the frogs were eating tiny oribatid mites that are abundant in decaying plant matter. Analysis of the mites determined over 80 types of alkaloids present in their tiny bodies, explaining the source of the frogs' defense.
Come on... just one quick taste... all the kids are doing it... Yellow-banded Dart Frog, Dedrobated leucomelas
Magically delicious. Oribatid Mite
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tags: Seattle Washington, Biology Department Greenhouse, University of Washington, poison dart frogs, Dendrobates, Dendrobatidae
Captive-bred Dyeing Poison Dart frog, Dendrobates tinctorius, from the Guianas of northeastern South America.
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