The venom released from the head of one of the frogs is so toxic that it could kill 80 humans, or more than 300,000 mice. The frogs are described in the latest issue of the journal Current Biology.
“Discovering a truly venomous frog is nothing any of us expected, and finding frogs with skin secretions more venomous than those of the deadly pit vipers of the genus Bothrops was astounding,” co-author Edmund Brodie, Jr., of Utah State University said in a press release.
Brodie and his colleague Carlos Jared of Instituto Butantan in São Paulo, Brazil, made the determination — painfully — while studying the Brazilian frogs Corythomantis greeningi (Greening’s frog) and Aparasphenodon brunoi (Bruno’s casque-headed frog).
While collecting frogs for research in Brazil, Jared picked up a Greening’s frog and instantly felt a jab. That moment led to about 5 hours of excruciating, radiating pain.
Both of the frog species have little spines coming out of their head that the researchers discovered deliver the venom. You cannot see the spines well in this photo, but check out page 8 of this document to see how the frogs’ heads are armed with an injury-inflicting surprise for anyone who messes with the amphibians.
The researchers calculated that a single gram of the venom from Bruno’s casque-headed frog is more potent than that of deadly pit vipers. These snakes come from the genus Bothrops, and are among the most dangerous snakes in the world. Until better and more modern treatments, the human fatality rate after being bitten by such a snake was around 9 percent in Costa Rica alone.
Jared was grateful that his encounter happened with a Greening’s frog, whose venom is somewhat less toxic.
Read more at Discovery News
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