Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
While toads have long been associated with witchcraft and the occult due to their unpleasing appearances (to some) and the toxins they excrete from their backs, they have nothing on the poison dart frogs of Central and South America in terms of lethality. One of the most familiar members of this family is the green and black species (Dendrobates auratus). It is not the deadliest of these frogs, but still possesses enough poison in its vibrantly coloured skin to theoretically kill a human being.
The green-and-black poison frog actually occurs in a variety of colours, including blue and yellow as well as varying shades of green. They can also have brown patterning instead of black. But this toy from Papo has kept things simple by being painted entirely in flat fern green with black for the patterning and the eyes.
The frog is sculpted in a sitting stance with its head raised, its hind limbs folded, its right arm extended forward, and its hands facing inward. This gives it a length of slightly more than 5 cm and a width of 4.5 cm, which makes it somewhat larger than a real such frog. Unlike the blue poison frog toy by Schleich, this one’s skin is entirely smooth all over, with no pits or bumps to speak of. That’s a bit of a disappointment there, that is. The toes do end in the characteristic bulging tips, though. These are, of course, suction cup pads that enable the frog to climb trees in its rainforest habitat. The green-and-black poison frog is native to Central America and Columbia, but has also been introduced in Hawaii.
While the snout on this toy strikes me as a little too short and rounded, it otherwise seems to be a correct representation of a green-and-black poison frog. Incidentally, this frog is a very popular exotic pet. Its poison is thought to derive from the ants, beetles, mites, and other insects that it consumes. Hence when fed a diet of feeder crickets, the frog loses most of its toxicity.
The Papo green-and-black poison frog is a good amphibian toy on the whole, although the Schleich blue one is decidedly superior in terms of both sculpting detail and paint job. Worth getting if you or your youngsters are fond of frogs.
With the aforementioned Schleich blue poison frog and the Schleich fire salamander:
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