Snakes Caught 'Wiping' Poison Off Frogs
In a remarkable display of adaptability, snakes have been observed removing poison from frogs before consuming them.
A study involving 10 royal ground snakes (Erythrolamprus reginae) from the Colombian Amazon found that four of the snakes would drag the toxic three-striped poison dart frogs (Ameerega trivittata) across the ground before eating them.
noted biologist Valeria Ramírez Castañeda of the University of California, Berkeley, and her colleagues, who conducted the experiment, compared this behavior to birds rubbing toxins off their prey.
The skin of the three-striped poison dart frogs contains deadly toxins, including histrionicotoxins, pumiliotoxins, and decahydroquinolines, which can interfere with essential cell proteins.
Author's summary: Snakes remove poison from frogs before eating.