GOLDEN
DART FROG
READ BY juan pablo espinosa
Season 1
Kek falls in love with a man in the rainforest and learns how the Universe actually works.
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juan pablo espinosa
After graduating from high school in Bogotá, Espinosa studied acting at Boston's Emerson College before returning to Colombia to star in different productions like El Secretario, Sony Pictures Television and Caracol TV series Los caballeros las prefieren brutas and A corazón abierto, based on Grey's Anatomy. His work in the US includes Narcos as Presidential candidate “Galán” and starring alongside Catherine Zeta Jones in the movie Cocaine Godmother. Most recently, Espinosa stars in Luke Greenfield’s Half Brothers for Focus Features.
The Golden Dart Frog, also known as the golden poison frog, is dubbed the most poisonous vertebrate on the planet.* The golden dart frog is not venomous but poisonous because it stores its toxins in its skin glands. If a victim touches the frog, the poison will prevent the victim’s nerves from transmitting impulses, leaving the muscles in an inactive state of contraction, which can lead to heart failure or fibrillation. Each frog is generally estimated to contain about one milligram of poison, enough to kill between 10 and 20 humans. They are also considered to be one of the most intelligent anurans, which refers to the tailless character of these amphibians. They are also extremely successful tongue hunters, using their long, adhesive tongues to catch food with near perfect precision.
Found only in Colombia, the golden dart frog has proven a very important frog to the local indigenous cultures, such as the Choco Emberá people in Colombia's rainforest, who source the poison from the frog and use it on the darts to hunt their food.**
The golden dart frog is currently imperiled by deforestation and fragmentation with its habitat stripped away for agriculture, logging, coca growing, and illegal gold mining.***
*https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians/facts/golden-poison-frog
**AMPHIBIA: ANURA: DENDROBATIDAE. Nowacki, A.M. and T.M. Doan. 2012.
***https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/55264/85887889#text-fields
how can we help?
The golden dart frog needs our help to protect its habitat in Colombia, especially areas deep in the rainforest. We can do our part to protect its habitat by learning where and how our food and other household items are produced. We can choose chocolate, coffee, sugar and other food products that are produced with wildlife-friendly certifications, such as Rainforest Alliance Certified products. You can learn more about how this certification can support critical wildlife habitat at www.rainforest-alliance.org/find-certified. Small choices can make a big difference to endangered animals!