Dart-Poison Frogs

The family Dendrobatidae contains over 280 species of small, brightly-coloured frogs that are active by day and which generally live in forested parts of Central America and northern South America. Many are brightly-coloured and have toxic skin secretions in their skin, derived from their insect prey. The skin secretions of the more toxic species have long been used by native Indians to coat their hunting darts. Just over a quarter of species are threatened with extinction to varying degrees. Their decline is primarily due to habitat loss; some of the more colourful species are also adversely affected by the global pet trade in tropical frogs.