A newly discovered chemical weapon in poison frogs' arsenal
Thursday, June 4, 2009 - 15:28
in Biology & Nature
New research documents a surprising chemical weapon used by some Amazonian poison frogs. The study identified for the first time a family of poisons never before known to exist in these brightly colored creatures or elsewhere in Nature, the N-methyldecahydroquinolines. The authors then speculated on its origin in the frogs` diet, most likely ants. The report is scheduled for the June 26 issue of ACS` Journal of Natural Products.