![]() Predators have the unpleasant option of trying to swallow it, which can cause suffocation, and even if they get it down, there's the problem of tetrodotoxin poison. This creates a near perfect sphere covered in spines. It isn't a very quick swimmer, so if its fins don't get it out of trouble, it launches plan B, and fills its massively inflatable stomach with water (or air if it's out of water). The puffer fish, comprising a family called Tetraodontidae, is a case study in making oneself unappetizing. This aposematic frog is considered one of the most intelligent anurans (frogs and toads): those in captivity can recognize human handlers within a few weeks, they are very social with one another, they communicate not just in sound but in movement and touching one another, and they are dedicated parents of their tadpoles. The color of poison dart frogs make them the poster children for aposematism, which is the adaptation of warning signals (color, smell, sounds, etc.) to deter potential predators. The batrachotoxins do not readily deteriorate, so the frogs can store it in their skin for years after being deprived of a contributing food source. The toxin comes from their food sources, particularly Choresine beetles. There is no known treatment for batrachotoxin poisoning. Their poison is called a batrachotoxin, which prevents nerve cells from firing, thus rendering an animal's muscles in a constant state of contraction, leading to heart failure. In fact, it's the most poisonous vertebrate: the poison in one frog's skin can kill 10,000 mice, between 10-20 adult humans, or two African bull elephants. The golden poison frog, Phyllobates terribilis, is the most lethal. Perhaps the most famous of the poisonous animals, the small frogs known as poison dart frogs are comprised of over 170 different species and many striking colors. In fact, here's a video from the Travel Channel showing a tribesman eating one. Females rub the poison from their feathers onto their eggs when they sit on them, and snakes have been seen eating the eggs and then vomiting them back up. Papua New Guineans call the bird a "rubbish bird" because it cannot be eaten, although if you're desperate enough, it is edible if you first carefully remove the skin and feathers, coat it in charcoal, and then roast it before saying a quick prayer and tucking in. Scientists believe the primary evolutionary function of the poison is that it deters lice and ticks, but perhaps it also has to do with helping their offspring survive. The skin and feathers of the pitohui contain a neurotoxin that can cause numbness and tingling if you touch it. Interestingly, scientists believe it gets its toxicity by eating the same type of beetle that contributes to the toxicity of the poison dart frog across the world in Colombia: Choresine beetles. One of the very few poisonous birds, the hooded pitohui (pronounced like you're spitting something out of your mouth: "pit-HOO-ee") lives in Papua New Guinea.
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