Toad
hideA toad can refer to a number of species of amphibians in the order Anura. A distinction is often made between frogs and toads by their appearance, prompted by the convergent adaptation among so-called "toads" to dry habitats. Many "toads" have leathery skin for better water retention, and brown coloration for camouflage. They also tend to burrow. However, these adaptations are not reliable indicators of its ancestry. Because taxonomy reflects only evolutionary relationships, any distinction between frogs and toads is irrelevant to their classification.
For instance, many members of the frog families Bombinatoridae, Discoglossidae, Pelobatidae, Rhinophrynidae, Scaphiopodidae, and some species from the Microhylidae family are commonly called "toads". However, the only family exclusively given the common name "toad" is Bufonidae, or the "true toads". Some "true frogs" of the genus Rana have also adapted to burrowing habitats, while a bufonid species in the genus Atelopus are conversely known by the common name "harlequin frogs". Similarly to frogs, toads also display metamorphosis from tadpole to sexually mature adult.
For more information about Toad, read the full article at
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News tagged with toads
Aussie meat ants may be invasive cane toad's Achilles' heel
Mar 30, 2009 |
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Ecologists in Australia have discovered that cane toads are far more susceptible to being killed and eaten by meat ants than native frogs. Their research - published in the British Ecological Society's journal Functional Ec ...
Racing cane toads reveals they get cold feet on Southern Australia invasion
Biology /
Aug 26, 2008 |
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Cane toads weren't allowed to compete in the Olympics, but scientists have raced cane toads in the laboratory and calculated that they would not be able to invade Melbourne, Adelaide or Hobart and are unlikely to do well ...
New study points to agriculture in frog sexual abnormalities
Biology /
Jul 03, 2008 |
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A farm irrigation canal would seem a healthier place for toads than a ditch by a supermarket parking lot. But University of Florida scientists have found the opposite is true. In a study with wide implications for a longstanding ...
Killer fungus threatening amphibians
19 hours ago |
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Amphibians like frogs and toads have existed for 360 million years and survived when the dinosaurs didn't, but a new aquatic fungus is threatening to make many of them extinct, according to an article in the ...
Captive breeding introduced infectious disease to Mallorcan amphibians
Biology /
Sep 22, 2008 |
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A potentially deadly fungus that can kill frogs and toads was inadvertently introduced into Mallorca by a captive breeding program that was reintroducing a rare species of toad into the wild, according to a new study published ...
EPA fellow studies effect of mercury in toads
Oct 19, 2009 |
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Christine Bergeron of Old Orchard Beach, Maine, a doctoral student in Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources, received a fellowship from the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National Center for ...
What do toad toes show? Plenty, says ASU biologist
Jun 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Brian Sullivan has been clipping toes from toads since the early 1980s. It’s not some type of strange hobby, and he releases the toads back into their habitat along the Agua Fria River north ...
Amphibians may develop immunity to fatal fungus
Apr 01, 2009 |
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Amphibian populations are declining worldwide, principally because of the spread of the fungal disease chytridiomycosis. Researchers know that some amphibian populations and species are innately more susceptible to the disease ...
Toxic toads targeted in Australia's 'Toad Day Out'
Mar 26, 2009 |
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(AP) -- For decades, the poisonous cane toad has plagued Australians, breeding rapidly, eating voraciously and bestowing death upon most animals that dare consume it.
