AMPHIBIANS

How on earth did I get here?

Cane toad

Originally, cane toads were used to eradicate pests from sugarcane, giving rise to their common name.

The cane toad (Bufo marinus), also known as the Giant Neotropical Toad or Marine Toad, is a large, terrestrial true toad native to Central and South America, but has since been introduced to various islands throughout Oceania and the Caribbean. The cane toad is a prolific breeder; females lay single-clump spawns with thousands of eggs. Its reproductive success is partly because of opportunistic feeding: it has a diet, unusual among Anurans, of both dead and living matter. Adults average 3.9–5.9 in in length; the largest recorded specimen weighed 5.8 lb with a length of 15 inches from snout to vent.

The cane toad has poison glands, and the tadpoles are highly toxic to most animals if ingested. Because of its voracious appetite, the cane toad has been introduced to many regions of the Pacific and the Caribbean islands as a method of agricultural pest control. The species derives its common name from its use against the cane beetle (Dermolepida albohirtum). The cane toad is now considered a pest and an invasive species in many of its introduced regions; of particular concern is that its toxic skin kills many animals—native predators and otherwise—when ingested.

Cane toad

They breed like flies, as the saying goes. Each pair of cane toads can lay 20,000 per breeding season (some published references estimate they produce as much as 60,000 eggs!).

Their "toadpoles" develop faster than many Australian frogs so they can outcompete our frogs for food.

Toads and toadpoles seem to be resistant to some herbicides and eutrophic water which would normally kill frogs and tadpoles.

All stages of a toad's life are poisonous so they have no natural predators to keep their numbers in check.

Toads not only eat the food normally available to Australian frogs, there is growing anecdotal evidence that they eat frogs as well, especially metamorphs.

Fish who eat toadpoles die.  Animals who eat young toads and adults die.  The museums have plenty of snakes preserved in jars which were killed by toad toxin so fast, the toad is still in their mouths unswallowed.  Even small amounts of water which toadpoles have gotten into, such as a pet's water dish, can be poisoned by toadpoles.  When the pet comes along to drink from it's dish, it becomes sick.  Local vets report that a couple dogs a month are brought in ill just from mouthing toads.

newt

Frog evolution

1. Heart (ventricle)

2. Lung

3. Spleen

4. Liver

5. Stomach

6. Small intestine7. Large intestine

8. Kidney

9. Urinary bladder10. Oviduct

11. Fat bodies

Urogenital System

Kidneys: Filter BloodUreters: Carry urine from kidneys to bladderTestes: Make spermOviducts: eggs travel through theseOvary: makes egg (usually not visible on frog)Urinary Bladder: Stores UrineCloaca: Where sperm, eggs, urine, and feces exit. The "Sewer"

Peritoneum: Spiderweb like membrane that covers organsStomach: First site of chemical digestion, breaks down foodLiver: Makes bile (aids in digestion)Gall bladder: Stores bileEsophagus: Tube that leads to the stomachPancreas: Makes insulin (aids in digestion)Small Intestine (duodenum and ileum): absorb nutrients from foodMesentery: Holds coils of the small intestine togetherLarge Intestine: Collects waste, absorbs waterCloaca: "Sewer": eggs, sperm, urine and feces enter this areaSpleen: Part of circulatory system, stores blood

Mexican axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum)Sold widely in the pet trade throughout New Zealand, axolotls are ferocious predators that would be a serious threat to native invertebrates and fish if they were to escape from captivity.

Frog development

FROGS LEGS

Boys will be boys.

Frog topiary

This is often called a frog

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