Caitie McDonald 9 Bronze
Poison Dart Frog- Affects on Nervous System
• Part of the Dendrobatidae family • Native to central and northern
areas of South America• Over 175 different species
• All are toxic
Poison Dart Frogs can vary from 1.5 cm to 6cm in adult length, and weigh
on average 2 grams. They are brightly coloured to warn off potential
predators.
Poison Dart Frog - ToxinsThe frogs excrete a deadly toxin through their skin. It has become known that Poison dart Frogs obtain
this poison from their diet; prey such as small insects. The toxin of a frog bred in captivity
wouldn’t be as strong as a wild Poison Dart Frog because it wouldn’t have these certain prey
available to them.
Leimadophis epinephelusPoison Dart Frogs are not affected by their
own poison because their body has become immune to it’s affects. However other
animals have also developed immunity to the poison, such as the snake,
Leimadophis epinephelus.
Case StudyAffect on the
nervous system:
Poison Dart Frogs received their name from the use of their toxic
secretion on blow darts, which are used to kill medium sized animals in Columbia. If hit by one if these darts the victim will experience
detrimental affects to their nervous system and often death.
The poison in the toxic secretion used in blow darts is Batrachotoxin, a nerve poison, discovered by
American scientists John Delly and Bernard Whitcup.
Affect on the
nervous system:
If someone were to come into contact with a Poison Dart Frog the same outcome would occur:Affect
on the nervous system:
Poison Dart Frogs
• Stops nerve impulses from being transmitted around the body.
• Permanently opens channels that are essential to the nervous
system.
Because nerve impulses can no longer be transmitted, it is common for victims to experience cardiac arrest.
Affect on the
nervous system:
After just one minute the heartbeat would begin to
fasten; eventually the contractions of the heart muscle would become so
strong that a heart attack is likely. After a few minutes the whole nervous system would
begin to be affected; paralysing the body.
There is no antidote for it’s affects; and the amount of people affected yearly is
unknown.
Affect on the
nervous system:
In the worst case scenario:
Batrachotoxin is highly toxic, and 100
micrograms (approximately the weight of 2 grains of table salt) would
be lethal to a 68kg person.
Batrachotoxin
BIBLIOGRAPHY• http://library.thinkquest.org/C007974/2_2poi.htm• http://
chemweb.calpoly.edu/cbailey/377/PapersW08/PaulM/index.html
• http://www.bio.davidson.edu/Courses/anphys/2000/Todd/Todd.htm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_dart_frog• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batrachotoxin• http://www.bio.davidson.edu/Courses/anphys/2000
/Todd/toxintype.htm