Carlos Jared is a scientist and researcher from Brazil. He had an unpleasant experience recently when he was looking for tree frogs known as Greening’s frogs in a forest in his home country. After searching, he found some and began picking them up by their heads. Suddenly, he felt a terrific pain in his hand, which later spread to his arm. He was in the middle of nowhere and no medical help was available. Carlos decided to lie down and wait. Five hours later, the pain began to disappear, and he lived to tell his tale.
While lying under the trees, Carlos had time to think. He knew that some species of frogs could produce poison in their skin. However, for the poison to be effective, the frog had to be eaten. He had not eaten the frog, so the poison must have been injected. Carlos realised he might have made an important discovery. Perhaps some frogs could inject poison, like some snakes.
Once he was feeling better, Carlos took the tree frogs back to Utah State University. Handling the frogs carefully, he examined them under a microscope. He saw that the frogs had tiny spikes on their foreheads. By butting their prey with their heads, they could inject their victims with poison. This would make them the first venomous frogs ever discovered.
Following this discovery, he examined the frogs’ poison. It was similar to poisons found in certain snakes, scorpions and fish. However, the frog’s poison was deadly. One gram of it was enough to kill more than 300,000 mice or 80 people. It’s a good job Carlos was not butted by this frog!
A colleague has described Carlos’s experience as follows:
“These are the eureka moments in science, where one experiences or sees something that no one else has ever seen before. That’s what we have here. Carlos grabbing the frog by the head led to this study and discovery.”
The team at Utah State University think other venomous frogs may yet be discovered. Are some perhaps in Asia? The important message here is: if you see another living creature, be careful. You never know what it may be able to do to you, however small it may be.
The frog that Carlos Jared discovered has been called the Aparasphenodon brunoi – it is often referred to as “bruno’s frog”.
Another venomous frog is the Poison Dart Frog. Let’s watch a male member of the species look after its young:
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