Toxic Frogs Get Their Poison From Mites


	Toxic Frogs Get Their Poison From Mites

usmc6531

5-16-2007 4:57 PM

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tags:

frogs, toxic, nature, mites

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://www.clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/39d15294-eac6-48b3-a5a7-554e60c56841/02021B79-69C9-4179-9DA5-5BD9EE8172C2/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070514-poison-frogs.html" href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070514-poison-frogs.html" style="font-size: 11px;">news.nationalgeographic.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070514-poison-frogs.html"><P class="intro">
Tiny mites give some Central American poison frogs most of their toxic sting, researchers have discovered.
</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070514-poison-frogs.html"><div align="center"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/news.nationalgeographic.com/img/30EF3F47-9F37-4087-9881-B4F63E680837" alt="Strawberry poison dart frogs pictures" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070514-poison-frogs.html"><P>
Many tropical frog species secrete compounds known as alkaloids to protect themselves from predators and prevent infections.
                                       </P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070514-poison-frogs.html"><P>
Scientists knew that frogs don't produce the toxic compounds themselves, but rather acquire them from their diet. For instance, poison frogs raised on a diet of fruit flies—which contain no alkaloids—quickly lose their dangerous slime. (Related: <A href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/11/061107-poison-frogs.html">"Poison Frogs Losing Their Toxicity, Study Suggests"</A> [November 7, 2006].)
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But until recently, said Ralph Saporito of Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, "it's been a mystery what the dietary sources are."
</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070514-poison-frogs.html"><P>
Ants are known alkaloid producers, so previously they had been assumed to be the major source of the more than 800 known alkaloid compounds present in poison frogs.
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