Like most species of poison frog, the Terrible Poison Frog, Phyllobates terribilis, can be approached at night to get photographs; by day many poison frogs are flighty and hard to shoot in situ. The Terrible Poison Frog lives on the shadowy forest floor in leaf litter and among roots. This species is special as it is one of the most toxic vertebrates on Earth. Bright warning colors (aposematic coloration) warn potential predators of the extreme toxicity found in this frog's skin. The toxins are call steroidal alkaloids and comprise a substance known as homobatrachotoxin, a kind of batrachotoxin. Glands in the frog's skin, called granular glands, secrete the toxins onto the skin. The Amerindians in the region use the toxins to poison their blow gun darts and can do so by simply rubbing the darts on the frogs back (although there are also other forced forms of toxin extraction). This adult is carrying tadpoles on its back to a water shource where they will be released to develop on their own. Photographed in 2012.