True toad
| True toads | |
|---|---|
| |
| Common toad or European toad, Bufo bufo | |
| Territorial call of an Atelopus franciscus male | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Superfamily: | Hyloidea |
| Family: | Bufonidae Gray, 1825 |
| Genera | |
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| Native distribution of Bufonidae (in black) | |
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.
Characteristics
True toads are widespread and are native to every continent except Australia and Antarctica, inhabiting a variety of environments, from arid areas to rainforest. Most lay eggs in paired strings that hatch into tadpoles, although, in the genus Nectophrynoides, the eggs hatch directly into miniature toads.[1]
True toads are toothless and generally warty in appearance. They have a pair of parotoid glands on the back of their heads. These glands contain an alkaloid poison which the toads excrete when stressed. The poison in the glands contains a number of toxins causing different effects. Bufotoxin is a general term. Different animals contain significantly different substances and proportions of substances. Some, like the cane toad Rhinella marina, are more toxic than others. Some "psychoactive toads", such as the Colorado River toad Incilius alvarius,[2] have been used recreationally for the effects of their bufotoxin.
Male toads possess a Bidder's organ. Under the right conditions, the organ becomes an active ovary and the toad, in effect, becomes female.[3]
Reproduction
Internal fertilization occurs in four bufonid genera.[4]
- Mertensophryne (some species)
- Nectophrynoides (presumably all species)
- Altiphrynoides malcolmi (one out of two species in the genus Altiphrynoides)
- Nimbaphrynoides occidentalis (the sole species in the monotypic genus Nimbaphrynoides)
Ascaphus (all species) and Eleutherodactylus (two species, E. coqui and E. jasperi) are the only other frog genera that have internal fertilization.[4] Limnonectes larvaepartus also has internal fertilization.[5]
Taxonomy
The family Bufonidae contains over 570 species among 52 genera.
| Genus Latin name and author | Common name | Species |
|---|---|---|
| Adenomus Cope, 1861 | Dwarf toads | 2
|
| Altiphrynoides Dubois, 1987 | Ethiopian toads | 2
|
| Amazophrynella Fouquet et al., 2012 | 12
| |
| Anaxyrus Tschudi, 1845 | 23
| |
| Ansonia Stoliczka, 1870 | Stream toads | 34
|
| Atelopus Duméril & Bibron, 1841 | Stubfoot toads | 96
|
| Barbarophryne Beukema, de Pous, Donaire-Barroso, Bogaerts, Garcia-Porta, Escoriza, Arribas, El Mouden, and Carranza, 2013 (1 sp.) | Tiznit toad; Brongersma's toad | 1
|
| Blythophryne Chandramouli et al., 2016[6] | Andaman bush toads | 1
|
| Bufo Garsault, 1764 | Toads | 18
|
| Bufoides Pillai & Yazdani, 1973 | Mawblang toads; Rock toads | 2
|
| Bufotes Rafinesque, 1815 | Palearctic green toads | 15
|
| Capensibufo Grandison, 1980 | Cape toads | 5
|
| Churamiti Channing & Stanley, 2002 | 1
| |
| Dendrophryniscus Jiménez de la Espada, 1871 | Tree toads | 16
|
| Didynamipus Andersson, 1903 | Four-digit toad | 1
|
| Duttaphrynus Frost et al., 2006 | Dutta's toads | 27
|
| Epidalea Cope, 1864 | Natterjack toad | 1
|
| Frostius Cannatella, 1986 | Frost's toads | 2
|
| Ghatophryne Biju, Van Bocxlaer, Giri, Loader, and Bossuyt, 2009 | 2
| |
| Incilius Cope, 1863 | Central American toads; Middle American toads; Cerro Utyum toads | 39
|
| Ingerophrynus Frost, Grant, Faivovich, Bain, Haas, Haddad, de Sá, Channing, Wilkinson, Donnellan, Raxworthy, Campbell, Blotto, Moler, Drewes, Nussbaum, Lynch, Green, and Wheeler, 2006 | Hainan toads | 12
|
| Laurentophryne Tihen, 1960 | Parker's tree toad | 1
|
| Leptophryne Fitzinger, 1843 | Indonesia tree toads | 3
|
| Melanophryniscus Gallardo, 1961 | South American redbelly toads | 29
|
| Mertensophryne Tihen, 1960 | Snouted frogs | 14
|
| Metaphryniscus Señaris, Ayarzagüena & Gorzula, 1994 | 1
| |
| Nannophryne Günther, 1870 | 4
| |
| Nectophryne Buchholz & Peters, 1875 | African tree toads | 2
|
| Nectophrynoides Buchholz & Peters, 1875 | African live-bearing toads | 13
|
| Nimbaphrynoides Dubois, 1987 | Nimba toads | 1
|
| Oreophrynella Boulenger, 1895 | Bush toads | 8
|
| Osornophryne Ruiz-Carranza & Hernández-Camacho, 1976 | Plump toads | 11
|
| Parapelophryne Fei, Ye & Jiang, 2003 | 1
| |
| Pedostibes Günther, 1876 | Asian tree toads | 1
|
| Pelophryne Barbour, 1938 | Flathead toads | 13
|
| Peltophryne Fitzinger, 1843 | Caribbean toads | 14
|
| Phrynoidis Fitzinger in Treitschke, 1842 | Rough toads | 2
|
| Poyntonophrynus Frost, Grant, Faivovich, Bain, Haas, Haddad, de Sá, Channing, Wilkinson, Donnellan, Raxworthy, Campbell, Blotto, Moler, Drewes, Nussbaum, Lynch, Green, and Wheeler, 2006 | Pygmy toads | 11
|
| Pseudobufo Tschudi, 1838 | False toad | 1
|
| Rentapia Chan, Grismer, Zachariah, Brown, and Abraham, 2016 | 2
| |
| Rhaebo Cope, 1862 | Cope toads | 13
|
| Rhinella Fitzinger, 1826 | Beaked toads | 92
|
| Sabahphrynus Matsui, Yambun, and Sudin, 2007 | Sabah earless toad | 1
|
| Schismaderma Smith, 1849 | African split-skin toad | 1
|
| Sclerophrys Tschudi, 1838 | 44
| |
| Sigalegalephrynus Tschudi, 1838 | Puppet toads | 5
|
| Strauchbufo Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2012 | Siberian toad; Mongolian toad | 1
|
| Truebella Graybeal & Cannatella, 1995 | 2
| |
| Vandijkophrynus Frost, Grant, Faivovich, Bain, Haas, Haddad, de Sá, Channing, Wilkinson, Donnellan, Raxworthy, Campbell, Blotto, Moler, Drewes, Nussbaum, Lynch, Green, and Wheeler, 2006 | Van Dijk's toads | 6
|
| Werneria Poche, 1903 | Smalltongue toads | 6
|
| Wolterstorffina Mertens, 1939 | Wolterstorff toads | 3
|
| Xanthophryne Biju, Van Bocxlaer, Giri, Loader & Bossuyt, 2009 | 2
| |
| "Bufo" hadramautinus Cherchi, 1963 | Suia Hadramaut toad | |
| "Bufo" scorteccii Balletto and Cherchi, 1970 | Scortecci's toad |
References
- ^ a b Zweifel, Richard G. (1998). Cogger, H.G.; Zweifel, R.G. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 91–92. ISBN 978-0-12-178560-4.
- ^ "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 2019-01-19.
- ^ Brown, Federico D.; Del Pino, Eugenia M.; Krohne, Georg (December 2002). "Bidder's organ in the toad Bufo marinus: Effects of orchidectomy on the morphology and expression of lamina-associated polypeptide 2". Development, Growth & Differentiation. 44 (6): 527–535. doi:10.1046/j.1440-169X.2002.00665.x. ISSN 1440-169X.
- ^ a b Vitt, Laurie J.; Caldwell, Janalee P. (2014). Herpetology: An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles (4th ed.). Academic Press. p. 122.
- ^ Iskandar, D. T.; Evans, B. J.; McGuire, J. A. (2014). "A novel reproductive mode in frogs: a new species of fanged frog with internal fertilization and birth of tadpoles". PLoS ONE. 9 (12): e115884. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0115884. PMC 4281041.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ S. R. Chandramouli, Karthikeyan, Vasudevan, S Harikrishnan, Sushil Kumar Dutta, S Jegath Janani, Richa Sharma, Indraneil Das, Ramesh Aggarwal. “A new genus and species of arboreal toad with phytotelmonous larvae, from the Andaman Islands, India (Lissamphibia, Anura, Bufonidae)” ZooKeys (2016) 555: 57-90, https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.555.6522
- "Amphibian Species of the World 5.1 - Bufonidae". Archived from the original on 2012-07-15. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- Stebbins, Robert. Western Reptiles & Amphibians (3rd ed.). Houghton Mifflin Co., 2003.
- Halliday, Tim R., and Kraig Adler (editors). The New Encyclopedia of Reptiles & Amphibians. Facts on File, New York, 2002.
External links
- Tolweb.org: Bufonidae
- Bufonidae.com
- Amphibian and Reptiles of Peninsular Malaysia - Family Bufonidae
- FED.us
- Bufonidae recordings from the British Library Sound Archive
