Should we be using the term ‘poison dart frog’?

In naturalist and herpetologist circles across the world, fewer people are using the term ‘poison dart’ or ‘poison arrow’ frogs. This is because there are actually only three species that can be accurately referred to as poison dart frogs: Phyllobates terribilis, P. aurotenia and P. bicolor. These are the only species on record to have been used by indigenous tribes to poison hunting arrows. Phyllobates terribilis or the ‘terrible’ poison dart frog is almost 20 times more toxic than most other species and is considered one of the most toxic animals on the planet.

Nowadays, herpetologists refer to the Dendrobatidae family as ‘poison frogs’. This family is currently comprised of 336 species from 20 different genera. However, as some of the most polymorphic species on the planet (Oophaga pumilio or the ‘strawberry’ poison frog being the most), they are found in such a wide spectrum of colours and patterns that new species and locales are still being described. In fact, the strawberry poison frog, despite only having a small range stretching along the Caribbean coast between Nicaragua and Panama, has 102 recorded colour morphs. In the Bocas del Toro region of Panama, a very small group of islands in the Northeast, there are over 20 entirely different colours of the same species.

Phyllobates terribilis, a ‘true’ poison dart frog.