batrachotoxin

[buh-trak-uh-tok-sin, ba-truh-koh-]

noun

Pharmacology.

1. a venom, C 31 H 42 N 2 O 6 , obtained from skin secretions of Colombian frogs of the genus Pyllobates and used experimentally in neurology.

Word History and Origins

Origin of batrachotoxin¹

1960–65; < Greek bátrach ( os ) frog + -o- + toxin

Example Sentences

The amphibians — which measure about two inches long and are covered by a secretion of a poison known as a batrachotoxin — number fewer than 5,000, all living in a tropical forest along the Pacific coast of Colombia.

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