Treadmill Tests for Poison Frogs Show Toxic Species Are More Physically Fit

In the forests of Columbia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Panama, 500 poisonous frogs were put through a fitness test. The fitness test was run by Santos and consisted of measuring the oxygen uptake during exercise utilizing a rotating plastic tube. The plastic tube was similar to a wheel that a hamster would run on. The result of this test found that the most deadly and poisonous frogs have the highest aerobic activity. These frogs are more efficient in extracting oxygen from each breath and sending it to their muscles, just like major athletes. Most animals make their own poison which sets these frogs apart from the rest. The frogs get their athletic ability from the food that they intake, which is primarily ants and mice. Since the poison frogs are so picky on what they eat, they have to search harder and move farther to find it unlike other poisonous animals that can eat whatever walks by. Aposematism, a syndrome involving the combination of toxic skin and bold colors, has developed alongside diet and physical fitness.

I chose this article because it caught my eye and sounded interesting to me. I was not aware of how different the poison frogs are from the rest of the venomous animals.

Source:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110329134250.htm