Most poisonous frog
記録保持者
Phyllobates terribilis
内容
0.2 total number
場所
イギリス ()

The poison of the golden poison-dart frog (Phyllobates terribilis) – endemic to the Pacific lowland rainforest of western Colombia – is a non-protein-based toxin called batrachotoxin, with an LD50 of is 0.2 micrograms per kilogram. Even though the golden poison-dart frog is only 4–6 cm (1.6–2.4 in) long, it has enough toxin to provide a lethal dose to approximately 10 adult humans or 20,000 lab mice.


The brightly coloured poison-dart frogs of South and Central America secrete some of the most deadly biological toxins known to man. The skin secretion of the golden poison-dart frog is the most poisonous of them all; the species is so dangerous that scientists have to wear thick gloves to pick it up, in case they have cuts or scratches on their hands. People who keep them as pets are recommended to buy a cage which is at least as big as a 20-gallon aquarium to house one frog.

LD50 values are used to assess the toxic potency of an animal and are based on the dose required to kill 50% of laboratory mice during tests. In this case, the toxin was applied subcutaneously (i.e., injected). If assuming that humans are as susceptible as mice to the toxins, a dose of just 180 micrograms of toxin would be sufficient to kill an average adult.