Greening’s frog  (Corythomantis greening)

Greening’s frog (Corythomantis greening)

When Carlos Jared picked up a little frog hiding in the scrublands of the Brazilian Caatinga, he didn’t expect to be hurt.

And he didn’t expect an intense pain radiating up his arm for the next five hours.

“It took me a long time to realise that the pain had a relationship with the careless collection of these animals,” he recalls.

Now he understands why. The little frog he collected is known as a Greening’s frog  (Corythomantis greening). Its head is covered in deadly spines, and Jared’s research has revealed it is capable of injecting its victims with toxins more potent than those produced by Brazilian pitviper snakes.

Read the full article on BBC Earth website.