Aposematism is a defense mechanism, very widespread among insects, but also found in reptiles, amphibians and even in some mammals, such as skunks, which is used to warn predators that they are facing a poisonous animal potentially or endowed with some particularly toxic or unpleasant characteristic. This is noticeable, for example, in the cardboard wasp , Polistes dominula . A team of researchers coordinated by Gregorio Moreno-Rueda, from the Department of Zoology at the University of Granada, determined that the brightest ones have, in turn, the largest venom glands. The striking red and black coloration of the Ranitomeya reticulata frog clearly indicates that contact with it must be avoided: it has a powerful neurotoxic poison . Another example of this phenomenon, in this case designed to be perceived through the ear, is the audible warning produced by rattlesnakes .
Image: Courtesy Brian Gratwicke via Wikimedia / CC
