Poison Frog
Of all the animals I’ve chosen to paint thus far in THE ARK, this Poison Frog is probably the most interpretative portrait. There are so many varieties of tropical frogs in existence, and it turns out that some of the most brilliantly colored and patterned ones are also highly poisonous. I’ve chosen to use a Panamanian Golden Frog as my model in this series of portraits, although they are only yellow in color. I’ve taken artistic liberties by assigning different color combinations to the other frogs seen here, as poisonous frogs exist in many colors and patterns.
Poison frogs live in wet, tropical forests in Central and South America, where their diet contributes to the toxins they secrete through their skin. Their brightly colors act as a warning sign to predators, and the potency of their poison is such that one milligram can kill 10,000 mice - or 10-20 humans! Interestingly enough, since the toxins present in poison frogs comes from the ants they eat in the wild, when raised in captivity and fed other insects like crickets, the frogs are not poisonous at all. As they say, “You are what you eat”.