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Toads
Toad (also known as a hoptoad) is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. In popular culture (folk taxonomy), toads are distinguished from frogs by their drier, rougher skin and association with more terrestrial habitats. However, this distinction does not align precisely with scientific taxonomy. List of toad families In scientific taxonomy, toads include the true toads (Bufonidae) and various other terrestrial or warty-skinned frogs. Non-bufonid "toads" can be found in the families: * Bombinatoridae ( fire-bellied toads and jungle toads) * Calyptocephalellidae ( helmeted water toad and false toads) * Discoglossidae ( midwife toads) * Myobatrachidae (Australian toadlets) * Pelobatidae ( European spadefoot toad) * Rhinophrynidae ( burrowing toads) * Scaphiopodidae ( American spadefoot toads) * Microhylidae ( narrowmouth toads) Biology ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough skin texture due to wart-like parotoid glands tend to be called toads, but the distinction between frogs and toads is informal and purely cosmetic, not from taxonomy (biology), taxonomy or evolutionary history. Frogs are widely distributed, ranging from the tropics to subarctic regions, but the greatest concentration of species diversity is in tropical rainforest and associated wetlands. They account for around 88% of extant amphibian species, and are one of the five most diverse vertebrate orders. The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is known from the Early Triassic of Madagascar (250Myr, million years ago), but molecular clock, molecular clock dating suggests their divergent evolution, divergence from other amphibians may exte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Toad
The common toad, European toad, or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply the toad (''Bufo bufo'', from Latin ''bufo'' "toad"), is a toad found throughout most of Europe (with the exception of Ireland, Iceland, parts of Scandinavia, and some List of islands in the Mediterranean, Mediterranean islands), in the western part of North Asia, and in a small portion of Northwest Africa. It is one of a group of closely related animals that are descended from a common ancestral line of toads and which form a species complex. The toad is an inconspicuous animal as it usually lies hidden during the day. It becomes active at dusk and spends the night hunting for the invertebrates on which it feeds. It moves with a slow, ungainly walk or short jumps, and has greyish-brown skin covered with wart-like lumps. Although toads are usually solitary animals, in the breeding season, large numbers of toads converge on certain breeding ponds, where the males compete to mate with the females. Eggs are laid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
True Toads
A true toad is any member of the family Bufonidae, in the order Anura (frogs and toads). This is the only family of anurans in which all members are known as toads, although some may be called frogs (such as harlequin frogs). The bufonids now comprise more than 35 genera, '' Bufo'' being the best known. History Bufonidae is thought to have originated in South America. Some studies date the origin of the group to after the breakup of Gondwana, about 78–99 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous. In contrast, other studies have dated the origin of the group to the early Paleocene. The bufonids likely radiated out of South America during the Eocene, with the entire radiation occurring during the Eocene to Oligocene, marking an extremely rapid divergence likely facilitated by the Paleogene's changing climatic conditions. Taxonomy The following phylogeny of most genera in the family is based on Portik and Papenfuss, 2015:, Chan ''et al.'', 2016, Chandramouli ''et al.'', 201 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Toad
The American toad (''Anaxyrus americanus'') is a common species of toad found throughout Canada and the eastern United States. It is divided into three subspecies: the eastern American toad (''A. a. americanus''), the dwarf American toad (''A. a. charlesmithi'') and the rare Hudson Bay toad (''A. a. copei''). Recent taxonomic treatments place this species in the genus '' Anaxyrus'' instead of '' Bufo''. Eggs A. americanus eggs are bicolored. They are often a roughly equal mixture of a black or brown with white or cream. The eggs are deposited in two long ropes that have been recorded to transcend 60 m in length. Single egg diameter ranges from 0.1 cm to 0.2 cm. Tadpoles The American toad lays between 2,000-20,000 eggs in two strings which hatch in 3-12 days. The hatched tadpoles, while very small, are recognizable by their skinny tails in relation to the size of their round black bodies. They reach adulthood in 50–65 days. When metamorphosis is complete, the "toadlets" may ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Spadefoot Toad
The Scaphiopodidae are a family of American spadefoot toads, which are native to North America. The family is small, comprising only eleven different species. The American spadefoot toads are of typical shape to most fossorial (or burrowing) frogs. They are round, with short legs and protruding eyes. As suggested by their name, these frogs have hard, keratinous protrusions present on their feet, which help them to dig. Like most fossorial frogs, they dig backwards into the ground. They differ from true toads because they have vertical pupils and no parotoid gland. The American spadefoot toads are terrestrial when not underground. They are dully colored, usually a grey or dull green or brown, to aid in camouflage in their arid habitats. Taxonomy The American spadefoot toads were previously included in a broader circumscription of the family Pelobatidae, which then united Palaearctic and Neoarctic spadefoot toads in the same family. However, the American spadefoot genera were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fire-bellied Toad
The fire-bellied toads are a group of six species of small frogs (most species typically no longer than ) belonging to the genus ''Bombina''. The name "fire-bellied" is derived from the brightly colored red- or yellow-and-black patterns on the toads' ventral regions, which act as aposematic coloration, a warning to predators of the toads' reputedly foul taste. The other parts of the toads' skins are green or dark brown. When confronted with a potential predator, these toads commonly engage in an unkenreflex, ''Unken-'' being the combining form of ''Unke'', German for fire-bellied toad. In the unkenreflex, the toad arches its back, raising its front and back legs to display the aposematic coloration of its ventral side. Species The currently recognized species are: Biology The female of the species typically lays 80–300 eggs that can be found hanging off plant stems. The offspring develop in pools or puddles. Their metamorphosis is complete within a few weeks, peaking in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calyptocephalella
''Calyptocephalella'' is a genus of frogs in the family Calyptocephalellidae. It is represented by a single living species, ''Calyptocephalella gayi'', commonly known as the helmeted water toad, Chilean helmeted bull frog, or wide-mouthed toad. Additionally, there are a few extinct species that are only known from Late Cretaceous and Paleogene fossil remains from Patagonia in South America and the Antarctic Peninsula (at times when it was warmer and wetter). The helmeted water toad living today is aquatic to semi-aquatic, and found in deep ponds and reservoirs in central Chile and possibly adjacent west-central Argentina.AmphibiaWeb: Calyptocephalella gayi.' Retrieved 21 March 2015. This very large frog typically weighs up to , but sometimes considerably more. It is the world's second largest frog after the goliath frog. It is threatened by capture for human consumption, habitat loss, pollution, introduced species and the disease chytridiomycosis. It is often kept in herpetocult ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhinophrynidae
The Rhinophrynidae are a family of frogs containing one extant genus, the monotypic ''Rhinophrynus'', and a number of fossil genera. The family is sometimes known as the Mexican burrowing toads or simply burrowing toads. ''Rhinophrynus'' occurs in the Central America north from Costa Rica to Mexico and Texas. Fossil finds of Rhinophrynidae come from Mexico, the United States, and Canada. ''Rhinophrynus'' is a burrowing ant and termite eater. Systematics The Rhinophrynidae are the sister taxon of the Pipidae. The clade formed by these two genera is sometimes referred to as Xenoanura or Taxonomic rank, superfamily Pipoidea. Genera Extant genera: * ''Rhinophrynus'' or ''Mexican burrowing toad'' Late Eocene-Recent Fossil genera: * †''Chelomophrynus'' Henrici 1991 Wagon Bed Formation, Wyoming United States, Eocene * †''Eorhinophrynus'' Hecht 1959 Polecat Bench Formation, Wyoming, United States, Paleocene * †''Rhadinosteus'' Henrici 1998 Morrison Formation, Utah, United States ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microhylidae
The Microhylidae, commonly known as narrow-mouthed frogs, are a geographically widespread family (biology), family of frogs. The 683 species are in 57 genera and 11 subfamilies. Evolution A molecular phylogenetic study by van der Meijden, et al. (2007) has estimated the initial internal divergence of the family Microhylidae to have taken place about 66 million years ago, or immediately after the Cretaceous extinction event. The most recent common ancestor of the Microhylidae and their closest Ranoidea, ranoid relatives is estimated to have lived 116 million years ago in Gondwana. Description As suggested by their name, microhylids are mostly small frogs. Many species are below in length, although some species are as large as . They can be arboreal or terrestrial, and some even live close to water. The ground-dwellers are often found under leaf litter within forests, occasionally venturing out at night to hunt. The two main shapes for the microhylids are wide bodies and narrow mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
