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Here’s how poison dart frogs safely hoard toxins in their skin

A protein found in the frogs’ intestines may transport toxins to the skin

a poison dart frog with a black-spotted, golden body and black feet sitting on a rock

Diablito poison dart frogs (one pictured) accumulate their trademark chemical defenses with the help of a toxin-binding protein that transports poisonous compounds from food to skin.

Marie-Therese Fischer (CC BY 4.0)

By Erin Garcia de Jesús

Toxins found in the skin of poison dart frogs may hitch a ride there via molecular taxicabs.

As a group, poison dart frogs (Dendrobatidae) host an assortment of more than 500 poisonous compounds called alkaloids that the amphibians acquire from a steady