Ironically, the most beautiful representatives of the animal world are often the most dangerous and even deadly for humans and other representatives of the fauna. It's the same with frogs. So, the most poisonous and most beautiful frogs peace.

The more beautiful, the more dangerous. So much more dangerous that just one touch to their skin can be fatal. So which one should we be wary of?

Phyllomedusa bicolor

Sometimes it is also called the "monkey frog". A large individual that can boast of its two-color body, as its name immediately implies: its upper part is painted in a bright light green color, slightly yellow towards the edge of the transition down, where the second, brown side of the frog begins, which has light spots. She is very curious and can go anywhere in search of adventure. The venom of the bicolor phyllomedusa causes strong, not very pleasant hallucinations and stomach upset. However, some tribes living off the coast of the Amazon are deliberately “poisoned” with poison to induce hallucinations.

Spotted dart frog

A stunningly beautiful frog: the head and body are decorated with large black and yellow circles, and the legs are black and blue. The skin of this frog is interesting not only for its beauty and poisonousness, but also because with its help, or more precisely, with the help of the poison secreted, Amazonian aborigines change the color of their feathers.

Red-backed poison frog

A bright red head and back, black circles on a light body, this is exactly what the poisonous little one originally from Peru looks like. Like many other animals, it produces its poison with the help of special food, in this case it poisonous ants. The frog uses poison only in case of its own protection.

Little poison dart frog

A bright, orange-red, very small frog that lives in the impenetrable forests of Central America. Its bright color warns that the frog is as dangerous as fire. And this is true, the poison of her skin leaves unpleasant feeling burn.

Blue dart frog

Very cute creature, bright blue, the sides of this frog are slightly lighter than the rest of the body, but no less bright for this. The venom of this creature can kill itself large predator and even a person.

Charming leaf climber

Such a wondrous name is not big frog their Central America. It is the least poisonous compared to its other brethren, but this does not mean that its poison can give someone joy. The frog itself is very dark, almost black, with two bright orange stripes along its back.

Striped leaf climber

The poison of this frog causes very severe pain and can even lead to paralysis. She has the same bright orange stripes along her back as the charming leaf climber, only wider. The frog itself is dark green, sometimes brown.

Spotted poison frog

IN tropical forests In Ecuador and Peru there lives a beautiful frog, rightfully called the most poisonous among all representatives, because its poison is enough to kill up to 5 people! But you shouldn’t be afraid of her prematurely; she won’t attack first. In appearance it has many similarities with the spotted poison dart frog. Only at spotted frog larger spots all over the body.

Three-striped leaf climber

In the native forests of Ecuador, it is now rare to see these beautiful, bright red frogs, with three light, almost white stripes on their backs. Researchers are trying to save their species by breeding them in captivity. After all, their poison is not only deadly, but also useful, as it is about 200 times superior to morphine and is an excellent pain reliever.

Orange toad (Bufo periglenes)

Orange toad (Bufo periglenes) - a small toad that lived in a limited area tropical forests Costa Rica (about 30 km across). It was first described in 1966, but no one has seen it since 1989. Considered to be an extinct species.

After several unsuccessful attempts discover the disappeared toads in the 90s. twentieth century (there was hope that they could survive in underground puddles and reservoirs), scientists began to discuss possible reasons extinction orange toad. The following versions have received the most support:

Fungal infection epidemic

Changes in the ocean El Niño current, which caused a record drought in the microhabitat of the toad in tropical forests, which killed the animals.

Broad-billed parrot

endangered species animal red book

Lophopsittacus mauritianus

Size: 70 cm.

Distribution: Mauritius Island (Mascarene Islands).

Habitat: Presumably marshy and open areas.

Status: extinct immediately after the discovery of the island by Europeans at the beginning of the 17th century. Causes of extinction - capture as food and introduced carnivorous mammals. Last time The broad-billed parrot was seen alive in 1638.

Couldn't fly. Led night look life.

In the wild, it ate only soft food due to its weak beak.

Nested on the ground.

There is not a single stuffed specimen of this parrot in museums, but Wohlfart Harmanszoon sketched and described it during his travels in 1601.

Tree frogs, also known as tree frogs, are the most colorful members of the amphibian order - their colors range from yellow and green to red and blue mixed with black. Such a bright color scheme is not just a quirk of nature, it is a signal for predators, warning of danger. Producing a poisonous toxin that can paralyze, stun and kill even a large animal, tree frogs have firmly established themselves in the impenetrable tropical forests of Central and South America, Where high humidity and the enormous biodiversity of insects allows them to survive for more than 200 million years. Having appeared on Earth at the same time as dinosaurs, frogs demonstrate extraordinary adaptation to the environment - painted in all the colors of the rainbow, they are practically invisible among lush vegetation and inedible for most representatives of the fauna.

- The Amerindians have long learned to benefit from the poison of poison dart frogs, using it as a deadly substance to lubricate the tips of their hunting darts. Having pierced the frog with a stick, the Indians first held it over the fire, and then collected the droplets of poison that appeared on the skin of the animal into a container, after which they dipped the arrows in a viscous liquid. This is where another name for poisonous tree frogs- dart frogs.

Unusual facts from the life of poison dart frogs

• Among the brightly colored 175 species of tree frogs, only three pose a threat to humans; the rest mimic toxicity with their appearance, although they are not poisonous.
• The size of dangerous tree frogs reaches 2-5 cm, with females being larger than males.
• Tree frogs climb trees thanks to the rounded ends on their legs that resemble suction cups. Making circular movements with their limbs, they move quite easily along the vertical plane of a tree trunk.
• Poison dart frogs prefer to live alone, carefully protecting the boundaries of their territory, and come together only during the mating season after reaching 2 years of age.
• Tree frogs acquire their bright colors with age; baby frogs always have a nondescript brown color.
• The frog's body does not produce poison - it adsorbs toxins small insects. Toxic secretions appear on the skin of an amphibian at the moment of danger and are caused by a specific “diet”, which includes ants, flies, and beetles. Tree frogs raised in captivity, away from their natural place habitats and deprived of their usual food, are absolutely harmless.
• Dart frogs are both diurnal and nocturnal, climb the ground and trees, and use a long sticky tongue when hunting.
• The life cycle of tree frogs is 5-7 years, in captivity – 10-15 years.

Yellow poison dart frog

Inhabited in the Andean foothills - in coastal areas southwestern Colombia, the most poisonous frog in the world - the terrible leaf climber ( Phyllobates terribilis ) , prefers growing on rocks 300-600 m above sea level. Deciduous litter under the crowns of trees near the reservoir - favorite place for the most dangerous vertebrate in the world - the yellow-gold tree frog, whose poison can kill 10 people at a time.

Distribution zone of the 1.5 cm strawberry tree frog (Andinobates geminisae) from the family poisonous leaf climbers, first found in 2011, is the jungle of Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama. The red-orange palette of the unusual amphibian's body is adjacent to bright blue on the hind legs and black markings on the head. After the dreaded golden leaf frog, the red tree frog is the second most toxic species in the world.

Okopipi blue poison frog

In 1968, the sky-blue tree frog Dendrobatus azureus was first discovered by scientists in the humid tropics. A bright shade of cobalt or azure sapphire with black and white flecks is a classic Okopipi colorway. Your name poisonous tree frog received from local aborigines a long time ago - unlike scientists, the Amerindians have known it for many centuries. The distribution area of ​​​​the unusual vertebrate is the relict tropical forests surrounding the Sipaliwini savanna, stretching through the southern regions of Suriname and Brazil. According to scientists, the blue dart frog was, as it were, “canned” in this area during the last Ice Age, when part of the jungle turned into a grassy plain. The surprising thing is that Okopipi does not know how to swim like all amphibians, and it obtains the necessary moisture in the humid thickets of the tropical forest.

Distribution area red-eyed tree frog- Agalychnis callidryas, quite extensive: from Northern Colombia, through the entire central part of America, to the southern tip of Mexico. Lives this type amphibians mainly in the lowlands of Costa Rica and Panama. The coloring of the “big-eyed” dart frog is the most intense in the family of tailless vertebrates - neon spots of blue and orange are scattered on a bright green background. But the eyes of this amphibian are especially remarkable - scarlet, with a vertical narrow pupil, they help the harmless little frog scare away predators.

In the east of the continent, there is another species of red-eyed frog - Litoria chloris - the owner of a rich light green color with yellow splashes. Both types of tree frogs are not poisonous despite their expressive “outfit” and piercing gaze.

Interesting to know! Many animals have striking colors - warning colors developed during evolution to protect against predators and indicating the toxicity of its owner. As a rule, this is a combination of contrasting colors: black and yellow, red and blue or others, a striped or drop-shaped pattern - even those predators that are naturally color-blind can distinguish such colors. In addition to the catchy color scheme miniature animals have big eyes, incommensurate with the dimensions of the body, which in the dark creates the illusion of a large organism. This feature, intended for survival, is called aposematism.

Medical uses of tree frog venom

Scientists' research into the pharmacological use of frog toxins began back in 1974, when the US National Institutes of Health first conducted experiments with dendrobatid and Epidatidine, the main components of tree frog venom. It turned out that in its pain-relieving properties one substance is 200 times superior to morphine, and the other is 120 times superior to nicotine. In the mid-90s, scientists at Abbott Labs. managed to create a synthetic version of epidatidine - ABT-594, which significantly reduces pain, but does not put people to sleep like opiates. The American Natural History Museum team also analyzed 300 alkaloids found in tree frog venom and determined that some were effective in treating neuralgia and muscle dysfunction.

• The largest frog in the world is the goliath (Conraua goliath) from West Africa, the length of her body (excluding legs) is about 32-38 cm, weight - almost 3.5 kg. The giant amphibian lives in Cameroon and Guinea, on the sandy shores African rivers Sanaga and Benito.
• The smallest frog in the world is the tree toad from Cuba, it grows 1.3 cm in length.
• In total, there are about 6 thousand species of frogs in the world, but every year scientists find more and more new species.
• A toad is the same as a frog, only its skin is dry, unlike frogs, and covered with warts, and its hind legs are shorter.
• The frog sees perfectly at night and is sensitive to even the slightest movement; in addition, the location and shape of the eyes allows it to perfectly view the area not only in front and to the sides of itself, but also partially behind.
• Thanks to their long hind legs, frogs can jump a distance of 20 times their body length. The Costa Rican tree frog has membranes between the toes of its hind and front paws - this unique aerodynamic device helps it float in the air when it jumps from one branch to another.
• Like all amphibians, frogs are cold-blooded - their body temperature changes in direct proportion to the parameters environment. When the air temperature drops to a critical level, they burrow underground and remain in suspended animation until spring. Even if 65% of a tree frog's body is frozen, it will survive by increasing the concentration of glucose in its vital organs. Another example of vitality is demonstrated by the Australian desert frog - it can survive without water for about 7 years.

New species of frogs and toads found in the world

Recently, in the highlands of western Panama, a new look gold tree frog. Scientists were able to spot the amphibian in dense foliage due to an unusual loud croaking sound, unlike any previously studied. When zoologists caught the animal, a yellow pigment began to appear on its paws. There was a fear that the discharge was poisonous, but after a series of tests, it turned out that the bright yellow mucus did not contain any toxins. A strange feature of the frog helped the scientific team come up with its scientific name - Diasporus citrinobapheus, which conveys the essence of its behavior in Latin. Another new look poisonous frogs— Andinobates geminisae, scientists found in Panama (Doroso, Colon province), in the upper reaches of the Rio Caño River. According to experts, the neon orange frog is on the verge of extinction, since its habitat is extremely small.

On the island of Sulawesi near the Philippine archipelago, a scientific team discovered the existence of a large number of clawed frogs - 13 species, 9 of which were hitherto unknown to science. Differences are observed in the body size of amphibians, the size and number of spurs on the hind legs. Due to the fact that this species is the only one on the island, nothing prevents it from breeding and reproducing, unlike its relatives in the Philippines, where clawed tree frogs compete with another species - amphibians of the Platymantis family. Fast growth the number of island anurans clearly demonstrates the correctness of Charles Darwin’s concept of adaptive distribution, described using the example of finches from the Galapagos archipelago.

Biodiversity of frogs on Earth

• Vietnam. About 150 species of amphibians are common here; in 2003, 8 new species of frogs were found in the country.
• Venezuela. The exotic state is sometimes called the “lost world” - many table mountains, difficult to reach for researchers, are distinguished by endemic flora and fauna. In 1995, a group of scientists undertook a helicopter expedition to the Sierra Yavi, Guanay and Yutaye mountains, where 3 species of frogs unknown to science were found.
• Tanzania. A new species of tree frog, Leptopelis barbouri, has been discovered in the Ujungwa Mountains.
• Papua New Guinea. Over the past decade, 50 unstudied species of tailless amphibians have been discovered here.
• Northeastern regions of the USA. Habitat of the rare spider-like toad.
• Madagascar. The island is home to 200 species of frogs, 99% of which are endemic - unique species not found anywhere else. The scientists' latest find, the narrow-mouthed toad, was discovered through a study of the soil and foliage of the jungle, during which it was possible to identify the amphibian's excrement.
• Colombia. The most outstanding discovery scientists in this region - the species of tree frog Colostethus atopoglossus, which lives only on the eastern slopes of the Andes, in El Boquerón.

Argentina, Bolivia, Guyana, Tanzania and many more countries with tropical climate and rugged landscapes - these are regions where scientists are constantly finding new subspecies of animals, including tailless amphibians - frogs. Possessing miniature sizes, arboreal representatives of the amphibian order are not only the smallest, but also the most dangerous animals in the world - modern zoologists are increasingly convinced of this.

: Incorrect or missing image

Extinct species
IUCN 3.1 Extinct:

Hypotheses about the cause of extinction

After several unsuccessful attempts to discover the extinct toads in the 1990s (it was hoped that they could survive in underground pools and ponds), scientists began to debate the possible reasons for the extinction of the orange toad. The following versions have received the most support:

• epidemic of fungal infection;
• changes in the ocean current El Niño, which caused a record drought in the microhabitat of the toad in the tropical forests, which killed the animals.

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Notes

Excerpt characterizing the Orange Toad

By dusk the cannonade began to subside. Alpatych came out of the basement and stopped at the door. Before clear evening her sky was all covered with smoke. And through this smoke the young, high-standing crescent of the month strangely shone. After the previous terrible roar of guns had ceased, there seemed silence over the city, interrupted only by the rustling of footsteps, groans, distant screams and the crackle of fires that seemed to be widespread throughout the city. The cook's moans had now died down. Black clouds of smoke from the fires rose and dispersed from both sides. On the street, not in rows, but like ants from a ruined hummock, in different uniforms and different directions, soldiers passed and ran. In Alpatych’s eyes, several of them ran into Ferapontov’s yard. Alpatych went to the gate. Some regiment, crowded and in a hurry, blocked the street, walking back.
“They are surrendering the city, leave, leave,” the officer who noticed his figure told him and immediately shouted to the soldiers:
– I’ll let you run around the yards! - he shouted.
Alpatych returned to the hut and, calling the coachman, ordered him to leave. Following Alpatych and the coachman, all of Ferapontov’s household came out. Seeing the smoke and even the fires of the fires, now visible in the beginning twilight, the women, who had been silent until then, suddenly began to cry out, looking at the fires. As if echoing them, the same cries were heard at other ends of the street. Alpatych and his coachman, with shaking hands, straightened the tangled reins and lines of the horses under the canopy.

There are many different folk signs related to the frog. Perhaps they could be deposited in your subconscious and serve as the reason for the appearance of this amphibian in a dream.

For example, during the day you heard the loud croaking of frogs and thought that it was raining, or you stepped on a frog and decided that there was trouble, or you dipped the toad in milk so that it would not go sour. They also say that if you pick up a frog, a wart will definitely appear on your hand.

Or maybe you dreamed of a frog because real life You met a pompous man full of self-importance and, looking at him, you remembered the famous folk wisdom: “No matter how the frog sulks, it’s still far from the ox.”

When deciphering your dream, you should not forget about the folk tale about the frog princess that has survived to our times. It is quite possible that you dreamed of a frog because in reality you dream of something unrealistic and unrealistic.

Holding a frog in your arms in a dream is a sign that your health is in serious danger. Perhaps among your close circle there is a person suffering from a contagious disease who poses a real threat to you.

Listening to the croaking of a frog in a dream means tears. Such a dream indicates that in real life you will face a serious loss or bitter disappointment, which will make you very worried.

If in a dream a frog jumps along the road you are walking on, then soon your life path you will meet a person with whom you want to connect your life. Such a dream prophesies for young people fast wedding with your loved one.

If you dreamed that you stepped on a frog, then this dream is a prophecy that your serene happiness will be broken by unexpected grief.

Dropping a frog into a can of milk in a dream means that in real life you are a person you can rely on and trust with all your secrets. Thanks to your prudence, you do not commit rash and thoughtless actions.

If you saw in a dream large number frogs, then in the near future you will have absurd quarrels with people close to you.

Interpretation of dreams from the Ancient Dream Book

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Dream Interpretation - Frog

if you see one or two frogs in a dream, then this is a repentant person serving Allah. If there are many of them, then these are troops on the path of Allah and His slaves. If there are a lot of frogs in one house or in a neighborhood, then Allah’s punishment will descend on that place. As for the croaking of a frog, for a person who hears it in a dream, it will mean entering the service of a superior, a ruler of power. Catching a frog in a dream means fulfilling Allah’s orders with zeal. A frog talking in a dream foreshadows new property.

Interpretation of dreams from