This is the stunning Red-Backed Poison Dart Frog, spotted with the help of my good friend Tamy at a university just outside of Iquitos in Peru.

Poison Dart Frogs are found in tropical areas of South and Central America and are some of the most fascinating frogs on the planet. Their name derives from the fact that the Indigenous communities of the region lace their blowdarts with the poison from these frogs while hunting or during conflict.

There are over 170 species of Poison Dart Frog, although many have little-to-no toxicity and much less conspicuous colouration. In general, the brighter the colours, the more dangerous the frog! This is known as aposematism, an evolutionary process by which animals ‘advertise’ to potential predators that they aren’t worth eating.

The species in these photos isn’t lethal to humans, but it would still cause serious injury if the poison entered your bloodstream, and they’re entirely capable of killing smaller animals such as chickens.

(Side note: While the terms are often used interchangeably, ‘poison’ is different to ‘venom’. Venom refers to toxins that are actively injected into the victim, such as the bite of a snake or the sting of a wasp. Poison, on the other hand, involves the toxin being passively absorbed, such as by any poor creature who decides to munch on a Poison Dart Frog.)

One species, the Golden Poison Dart Frog of western Colombia, is the most poisonous animal on the planet. The average individual of this species contains around one milligram of a deadly alkaloid called Batrachotoxin – enough to kill between 10 and 20 adult humans.

Thankfully, however, Poison Dart Frogs are essentially harmless to humans unless you’re dumb enough to lick one (or handle one with an open wound).

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Red-Backed Poison Dart Frog (Ranitomeya reticulata), Universidad Nacional de la Amazonia Peruana, Peru 🇵🇪