True toad

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 most well known.

True toads
Temporal range: 57–0 Ma
Late Paleocene – Recent[1]
Common toad or European toad, Bufo bufo
Territorial call of an Atelopus franciscus male
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Clade: Hyloidea
Family: Bufonidae
Gray, 1825
Genera
Over 35 see text
Native distribution of Bufonidae (in black)

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 authorCommon nameSpecies
Adenomus Cope, 1861Dwarf toads
2
Altiphrynoides Dubois, 1987Ethiopian toads
2
Amazophrynella Fouquet et al., 2012
12
Anaxyrus Tschudi, 1845
23
Ansonia Stoliczka, 1870Stream toads
34
Atelopus Duméril & Bibron, 1841Stubfoot 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, 1764Toads
18
Bufoides Pillai & Yazdani, 1973Mawblang toads; Rock toads
2
Bufotes Rafinesque, 1815Palearctic green toads
15
Capensibufo Grandison, 1980Cape toads
5
Churamiti Channing & Stanley, 2002
1
Dendrophryniscus Jiménez de la Espada, 1871Tree toads
16
Didynamipus Andersson, 1903Four-digit toad
1
Duttaphrynus Frost et al., 2006Dutta's toads
27
Epidalea Cope, 1864Natterjack toad
1
Frostius Cannatella, 1986Frost's toads
2
Ghatophryne Biju, Van Bocxlaer, Giri, Loader, and Bossuyt, 2009
2
Incilius Cope, 1863Central 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, 2006Hainan toads
12
Laurentophryne Tihen, 1960Parker's tree toad
1
Leptophryne Fitzinger, 1843Indonesia tree toads
3
Melanophryniscus Gallardo, 1961South American redbelly toads
29
Mertensophryne Tihen, 1960Snouted frogs
14
Metaphryniscus Señaris, Ayarzagüena & Gorzula, 1994
1
Nannophryne Günther, 1870
4
Nectophryne Buchholz & Peters, 1875African tree toads
2
Nectophrynoides Buchholz & Peters, 1875African live-bearing toads
13
Nimbaphrynoides Dubois, 1987Nimba toads
1
Oreophrynella Boulenger, 1895Bush toads
8
Osornophryne Ruiz-Carranza & Hernández-Camacho, 1976Plump toads
11
Parapelophryne Fei, Ye & Jiang, 2003
1
Pedostibes Günther, 1876Asian tree toads
1
Pelophryne Barbour, 1938Flathead toads
13
Peltophryne Fitzinger, 1843Caribbean toads
14
Phrynoidis Fitzinger in Treitschke, 1842Rough toads
2
Poyntonophrynus Frost, Grant, Faivovich, Bain, Haas, Haddad, de Sá, Channing, Wilkinson, Donnellan, Raxworthy, Campbell, Blotto, Moler, Drewes, Nussbaum, Lynch, Green, and Wheeler, 2006Pygmy toads
11
Pseudobufo Tschudi, 1838False toad
1
Rentapia Chan, Grismer, Zachariah, Brown, and Abraham, 2016
2
Rhaebo Cope, 1862Cope toads
13
Rhinella Fitzinger, 1826Beaked toads
92
Sabahphrynus Matsui, Yambun, and Sudin, 2007Sabah earless toad
1
Schismaderma Smith, 1849African split-skin toad
1
Sclerophrys Tschudi, 1838
44
Sigalegalephrynus Tschudi, 1838Puppet toads
5
Strauchbufo Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2012Siberian 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, 2006Van Dijk's toads
6
Werneria Poche, 1903Smalltongue toads
6
Wolterstorffina Mertens, 1939Wolterstorff toads
3
Xanthophryne Biju, Van Bocxlaer, Giri, Loader & Bossuyt, 2009
2
"Bufo" hadramautinus Cherchi, 1963Suia Hadramaut toad
"Bufo" scorteccii Balletto and Cherchi, 1970Scortecci's toad

References
  1. 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.
  2. "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 2019-01-19.
  3. 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.
  4. Vitt, Laurie J.; Caldwell, Janalee P. (2014). Herpetology: An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles (4th ed.). Academic Press. p. 122.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
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