Episode Fifty Three: Demonic Poison Frog | Week of May 16th

[LILLY BY BOQEH PLAYS THROUGHOUT]

KIM

What’s cracking? It's May 16th, 2022, I’m Kim, and the frog of the week is the Demonic Poison Frog.

This frog is native to Venezuela. In fact, like the Pebble Toad we discussed last month, the Demonic Poison Frog lives on one of Venzuela’s tepuis. As a reminder, tepuis are tall mountains with flat surfaces and sheer cliffs. They are often home to unique species of plants and animals due to their isolation from the surrounding area.

The Demonic Poison Frog is a denizen of the tepui known as the Cerro Yapacana. Its skin is a dark red with speckled black dots, therefore it is sometimes referred to as Yapacana’s Little Red Frog. That name is less frightening, but also less informative.

The Demonic Poison Frog is, in fact, a type of poison dart frog, meaning any predator who takes a bite is going to have a heck of a time. Unfortunately, these natural defenses cannot protect the Demonic Poison Frog from the harmful acts of humans. Its limited habitat is being destroyed by illegal gold mining and wildfires, and it also faces threats from the illegal pet trade. As a result, this frog is sadly classified as critically endangered.

Little is known about the Demonic Poison Frog’s reproductive behavior, and therefore, we were unable to locate audio of its call. Candidly, this is usually where we’d make a little joke about it making demon sounds, but that would be way too spooky for me.

I like this frog because it's like if a piece of Red Hots candy was turned into a frog. Why is it spicy? Poison.

And that’s the frog of the week. Thank you to Ella for recommending the Demonic Poison Frog. You can recommend a frog at our website, frogpod.online. You can also find us on Twitter, @WeeklyFrogPod. Thanks for joining us; see you next week.

[LILLY BY BOQEH FADES OUT]