What is the most poisonous animal?

The most poisonous animal is the golden poison frog, Phyllobates terribilis.

This brilliantly colored amphibian is endemic to the rainforests of Colombia’s Pacific coast. Its skin contains batrachotoxin, an exceptionally powerful alkaloid that interferes with sodium channels in nerve and muscle cells. A wild frog may carry enough toxin to kill several people.

The frog’s toxicity is linked to its diet. Wild individuals appear to acquire or concentrate batrachotoxin from small arthropods, possibly beetles in the Melyridae family, rather than producing it entirely from scratch. Captive-bred frogs raised on ordinary feeder insects generally lack significant toxicity.

A common mix-up is calling every brightly colored poison dart frog equally deadly. The golden poison frog is one species within the larger poison-frog family, and its warning coloration helps predators recognize its danger. Indigenous Emberá people have traditionally used its secretions on hunting darts.