New Curara Poisonous Frog - Found in Colombia
By: Stefan Anitei, Science Editor - Softpedia
The newly-discovered golden frog of Supata
If you thought Brazil has the most diverse fauna in South America (and in the world), you're wrong: this title belongs to Colombia. This is also showed by the rhythm of newly discovered species in this country: now researchers have found a new poisonous frog in a remote mountainous region of Colombia.
The new species, 0.8 inches (2 cm) long and with a yellowish skin, was dubbed the "golden frog of Supatá". This frog looks like other several common species in the area, but experts at Conservation International, a nonprofit group with the goal of protecting Earth's biodiversity, revealed that the golden frog of Supatá is unique and located only within a 20-hectare area in Colombia's Cundinamarca region.
There are over 583 amphibian species in Colombia (and about 6,000 species worldwide). As this frog lives in such a small area, nothing is known about its biology, except the fact it is a poison dart frog.
These frogs are brightly colored with awesome models (aposematical coloration warning predators), they’re small (many are specialized ant eaters) and store alkaloids on their skin. Alkaloids are nitrogenous toxic substances synthesized by plants (some well known alkaloids are caffeine, nicotine, cocaine) which have a bitter taste, being lethal in various doses.
The Indians poison the tip of their arrows with this neurotoxic substance called curara, which induces a slow and nasty death by paralyzing the breathing muscles (the victim dies conscious).
"The discovery highlights how little is known about the biodiversity of Earth and how many species are left undiscovered.", signaled lead researcher Oswaldo Cortes, a graduate student at La Universidad Distrital in Colombia.
Many frog species in tropical America have likely disappeared even before their scientific description, due to the epidemic of the chytrid fungus, which has been wiping out amphibian populations all over the world.
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