Treadmill Tests for Poison Frogs?

Poison frogs are more fit than others. It is due to their foraging for food.

ScienceDaily (Mar. 29, 2011) — In forests in Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Panamá, Santos subjected nearly 500 poison frogs -- representing more than 50 species -- to a frog fitness test. He measured their oxygen uptake during exercise using a rotating plastic tube, turning the tube like a hamster wheel to make the frogs walk.

Santos estimated the frogs' metabolic rates while at rest, and again after four minutes of exercise. The result? The most dazzling and deadly species had higher aerobic capacity than their drab, nontoxic cousins.
"They're better able to extract oxygen from each breath and transport it to their muscles, just like well-trained athletes," Santos said.

Poisonous species owe their athletic prowess to their unusual foraging habits, explained co-author David Cannatella of the University of Texas at Austin. Unlike snakes and other poisonous animals which make their own venom, poison frogs get their toxins from their food.