amphibians are not known to actively inject
venom.
Most toxic amphibians are instead known to be poisonous to touch or
eat. Amphibians usually sequester toxins from animals and plants on
which they feed, commonly from
poisonous insects or
poisonous plants. One example of this is the well-known poison
dart frog. They get a deadly chemical called
lipophilic alkaloid from consuming a poisonous food in the
rainforest.
They are immune to the poison and they secrete it through their skin as
a defense mechanism against predators. This poison is so efficient, the
native people of the
South American Amazon rainforest
use the frogs' toxins on their weapons to kill their prey, giving the
frogs their nickname the "poison dart frog". Some people use the
bufotoxins
of some species of toxic toads as a drug to get high, but this can
become very dangerous. Usually due to the toads' size and toxicity, the
poisons would not be deadly to a fully grown, healthy adult. But if too
much of the toxin is absorbed, or if the person is young or ill, then
the poisons can become a serious threat. It also depends on species:
some amphibians do have toxins strong enough to kill even a healthy
mature person within just a few minutes, while other species may not
have toxins potent enough to have any effect. Licking toads is not
biologically practical. For these tryptamines to be orally activated,
the human
monoamine oxidase system must be inhibited. Therefore, licking a poisonous amphibian will not guarantee a sufficient dose.
