Page 63 - Allah's Artistry in Colour

One of the most threaten-
ing frogs is the "poison ar-
row" frog. This small am-
phibian of the Dendrobates
species has a poison
known as "batracotoxin"
within its skin, which is be-
lieved by some to be the
strongest known poison in
the animal kingdom. The
frog's name is derived from
the use made of it by cer-
tain Amazonian tribes. It is
so poisonous that the
Indians used it on the tip of
their arrows while
hunting. 32 The colour of
the animal helps other ani-
mals to recognise that it is
poisonous.

The members of the
Sinanceidea species are
fish with relatively small
and compact bodies. They
have no scales, and in-
stead their skins are cov-
ered with wart-like protu-
berances, which perfectly
camouflage the fish as
they rest upon the seabed
waiting for prey. These
protuberances break up
the outline of the body,
which thus come to resem-
ble rocks. Often these fish
camouflage themselves
even more by burrowing
into the sand. 33