Why Don't Poison Dart Frogs Poison Themselves? | The Institute for Creation Research
Why Don't Poison Dart Frogs Poison Themselves?

Found in Central and South America, the poison dart frog uses its skin toxin for defense and its bright colors as a warning. Each tiny amphibian holds enough toxin in its skin to kill 10 people.1 Its popular name came from native hunters who very carefully dipped the tips of their hunting darts in the frog’s poison. A new study revealed how the frogs survive their own poison, and the answer points to God.

Each tiny amphibian holds enough toxin in its skin to kill 10 people. Tweet: Each tiny amphibian holds enough toxin in its skin to kill 10 people. https://www.icr.org/article/10291/ @icrscience @icrbthomas

Over 150 years ago, Charles Darwin asserted that nature could select enough traits over time to change one animal kind into another. Could natural processes have accidentally constructed poison dart frogs step by step? If nature’s first step was to make the frog’s toxin, then what would stop that first batch of toxin from immediately killing the frog, thus ending its imaginary evolution?

Perhaps the frog developed immunity to the toxin first, and its sophisticated biochemical toxin production facilities emerged later so that the toxin could evolve without killing the frog. Does this sound reasonable?2 Two big problems confront that idea.

A new study revealed how the frogs survive their own poison, and the answer points to God. Tweet: A new study revealed how the frogs survive their own poison, and the answer points to God. https://www.icr.org/article/10291/ @icrscience @icrbthomas

First, natural processes do not anticipate future needs or desires. Nature never said, “Hmm, if I could just invent a toxin, it could be useful for future froggy defense.”

The second problem reaches into the newly discovered details of poison frog immunity. Its toxin works by docking with a specific module of a sodium gate protein found on the outer surfaces of nerve and muscle cells. The toxin targets a module that has 1,836 amino acids, each precisely in its place like so many miniature engine components.3 The docked toxin blocks the victim’s sodium gates from sending vital signals. This freezes muscle cells, thereby stopping the heart. Only when scientists changed the 1,584th amino acid found in most animals (asparagine) to the amino acid that the poison frogs have at that spot (threonine) did the toxin fail to dock. Rats with the frog’s version of this protein survived exposure to the toxin just fine.4

Natural processes do not anticipate future needs or desires. Tweet: Natural processes do not anticipate future needs or desires. https://www.icr.org/article/10291/ @icrscience @icrbthomas

What are the odds that natural processes would have somehow specified that exact amino acid swap at that exact position, then spread this new version across all poison dart frog ancestors, all before the toxin ever became a glimmer in Mother Nature’s imaginary eye?

In other words, which came first, the toxin or the frog’s immunity to its own toxin?

A powerful Creator like the One the Bible describes would not have to build animals in steps. He could have created each original animal all at once, like Genesis says He did, to avoid all the “which part came first” problems.5 Plus, a wise Creator could (and a good Creator would) equip creatures with suitable solutions to needs He actually anticipated.

A powerful Creator like the One the Bible describes would not have to build animals in steps Tweet: A powerful Creator like the One the Bible describes would not have to build animals in steps https://www.icr.org/article/10291/ @icrscience @icrbthomas

One may ask why a good God would create harmful toxins at all. Well, in addition to protecting creatures, toxins can become medicines when used in measured doses and specific applications.6 The Lord’s wisdom, “beside Him as a master craftsman”7 from the beginning, anticipated both our research and possible medical interests and these frogs’ needs when He—not nature—designed their toxic skin.

References

  1. Yirka, B. Why poison dart frogs don’t poison themselves. PhysOrg. Posted on phys.org September 5, 2017, accessed September 6, 2017.
  2. Chemists performed 24 precise steps to manufacture this frog toxin in a laboratory—a meticulous and intricate procedure that “random natural processes” could never specify. See Logan, M. M. et al. 2016. Asymmetric synthesis of batrachotoxin: Enantiomeric toxins show functional divergence against NaV. Science. 354 (6314): 865-869.
  3. NaV1.4 (Na = sodium, and V = voltage) is really just one subunit of a larger, vital, voltage-gated sodium channel that helps send nerve impulses to muscles.
  4. Wang, S.-Y., and G. K. Wang. 2017. Single rat muscle Na+ channel mutation confers batrachotoxin autoresistance found in poison-dart frog Phyllobates terribilis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 114 (39): 10491-10496.
  5. Guliuzza, R. J. 2010. All-or-Nothing Unity. Acts & Facts. 39 (9): 10-11.
  6. Harvey, A. L. 2014. Toxins and drug discovery. Toxicon. 92: 193-200.
  7. Proverbs 8:30.

* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research and earned his M.S. in biotechnology from Stephen F. Austin State University.

Cite this article: Brian Thomas, Ph.D. 2017. Why Don't Poison Dart Frogs Poison Themselves?. Acts & Facts. 46 (11).

The Latest
CREATION.LIVE PODCAST
Struck: Risking It All for the Truth | Creation.Live Podcast:...
In this unique episode, host Trey talks with three key people involved in creating Struck—an upcoming miniseries that shows the special ties between...

NEWS
Giant Ants Buried in Receding Flood Rocks
Evolutionary scientists are baffled by a large ant fossil found in British Columbia, Canada. Known as Titanomyrma, this same ant had been found previously...

CREATION PODCAST
Why Do Animals Hibernate? | The Creation Podcast: Episode 45
The word hibernation is often used in reference to deep sleep, but what is it really? What kinds of creatures hibernate? How does this demonstrate the...

NEWS
Thalattosuchians—Extinct Crocodile Relatives?
The Thalattosuchia are an extinct group of marine crocodylomorphs (a group that includes the crocodiles) that allegedly transitioned from land to water...

NEWS
The Star-Nosed Mole
The star-nosed mole (Condylura cristata) is a fascinating semi-aquatic mammal found in eastern Canada and the United States. Moles (placental mammals)...

NEWS
The Hexagon: An Indication of Order and Design in Nature
In nature, noncoincidental patterns and geometry exist everywhere. But the number six appears to overshadow nature’s mathematical landscape. Whether...

NEWS
Neanderthal Crab Bake
The evolutionary science community said it perfectly in their headlines: “Proof that Neanderthals ate crabs is another 'nail in the coffin'...

CREATION PODCAST
Is There Any Truth to Dragon Legends? | The Creation Podcast:...
Dragons are considered by many to be made-up creatures in fairytales and legends, but our ancestors produced many descriptions and depictions of "dragons,"...

NEWS
Our Sun, Finely Tuned for Life on Earth
Aside from appreciating the splendor of the sun during a beautiful sunrise or sunset, many rarely consider how special, necessary, and finely tuned...

NEWS
March 2023 ICR Wallpaper
"Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; Sing praises on the harp to our God, Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who prepares rain for the earth, Who...