Poison Dart Frogs - Creation Moments

Genesis 1:24

“And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.”

I commented in a previous Creation Moment about the large number of Pacific tree frogs living on my property. I am just glad that we have the harmless but noisy tree frogs instead of Dendrobates tinctorius azureus – the blue poison dart frog.

These beautiful little blue frogs live in southern Surinam and also over the border into the adjacent portions of Brazil. In terms of behavior, they are not unusual. They live and breed near water. The males are territorial and highly aggressive. They will defend their territory by wrestling.

And they produce these unusual alkaloid secretions. These are so toxic that some frogs cause illness just by being handled. The golden poison frog produces a secretion so toxic that it can kill a large bird or monkey.

Indigenous peoples of Surinam will rub the tip of a dart across a frog’s back. This picks up sufficient toxin that, when in contact with the victim’s blood because of the arrow injury, can kill the victim. Other animals can also die if they ingest the toxin.

Given the aggressive nature of males and their willingness to fight, one has to wonder how early evolved examples could have survived. Surely, a defeated male might receive a lethal dose through his injuries. Apparently, evolutionists believe they have evolved a mechanism to avoid being poisoned. But how could the first few generations protect themselves before this toxin evolved? As usual, the better explanation is that God designed a system which became toxic after the Fall.

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for the rich variety of animals that You have placed on this planet. Amen.

Author: Paul Taylor

Ref: Encyclopedia Britannica, < https://www.britannica.com/animal/poison-frog >, accessed 3/30/2019. Image: CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported.