Cedricguppy - Loury Cédric, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Animals that deploy poison to defend themselves often signal their toxicity with striking color, and in the interest of clear communication they tend to rely on unvarying patterns, such as the monarch butterfly’s signature orange and black stripes. But the poison dart frogs, named for the blowgun darts that indigenous people laced with the toxic secretion, present an exception to this conservative approach. Although many of the frogs have reddish bodies and blue legs, a significant number exhibit colors ranging from brilliant orange-red to neon yellow with spots to ocean blue, and more.
Cedricguppy - Loury Cédric, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Animals that deploy poison to defend themselves often signal their toxicity with striking color, and in the interest of clear communication they tend to rely on unvarying patterns, such as the monarch butterfly’s signature orange and black stripes. But the poison dart frogs, named for the blowgun darts that indigenous people laced with the toxic secretion, present an exception to this conservative approach. Although many of the frogs have reddish bodies and blue legs, a significant number exhibit colors ranging from brilliant orange-red to neon yellow with spots to ocean blue, and more.