San Rafael (Ecuador): An Ecuadoran scientist specialising in amphibians believes that the toxin suspected of being responsible for the death of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny was produced in a laboratory, rather than extracted from dart frogs that produce it naturally in South America. Luis Coloma, director of the Jambatu Centre for Amphibian Research and Conservation in Ecuador, said the neurotoxin epibatidine is primarily produced in laboratories for research purposes. He explained that the amount of toxin naturally found in frogs is extremely small.

According to Coloma, extracting just one milligram of epibatidine would require the skin of around 750 frogs, making natural extraction highly impractical.

He added that while there is an international market for poison dart frogs, including lab-bred specimens from Ecuadorian company Wikiri, the toxin itself is typically synthesised in controlled laboratory settings rather than sourced directly from wild amphibians. (with AFP inputs)