The golden poison frog is an animal endemic to Colombia, which lives in theforests of Panama, with ambient temperatures of 26°C and humidity of at least 80%.This frog feeds mainly on ants, but may include in its diet other insects from the forest floor. Its main characteristic is the vibrant color of the skin, which is impregnated with an alkaloid called batrachotoxin, which causes muscle contraction and death by respiratory arrest, making this amphibian one of the most poisonous animals in the world.
The batrachotoxin in the skin comes from the animal's diet, from the ants that are consumed. Because it is so poisonous, there are few predators available to the golden frog, the snake Erythrolamprus epinephelus being one of them, since it has a certain resistance to toxins and prefers young frogs, because they have a lower concentration of the venom.
The golden poison frog reaches sexual maturity only when it reaches the desired size, and is therefore not determined by age. For courtship, the male vocalization near the female, who then lays about 15 eggs under a leaf so that the male can perform the fertilization, thus making it his duty to keep the eggs the male's duty to keep the eggs underwater and carry the tadpoles on his back until they complete metamorphosis.
An interesting fact, which gives Phyllobates terribilis its popular name, is that its toxin remains active even outside the animal's body, so it is used in darts and arrows by indigenous tribes to facilitate hunting.
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