Southern Toad

Anaxyrus terrestris

The Southern Toad is a small, bumpy toad that loves to hop around in the warm sun. They have a special call that sounds like a musical trill, especially during rainy nights.

Lebensraum: Wetlands

Aussehen

The Southern Toad is typically brown, gray, or reddish with dark spots and often has a distinct light stripe down its back. It has warty, dry skin and two large, prominent glands behind its eyes, which distinguish it from many frogs.

ReichAnimaliaStammChordataKlasseAmphibiaOrdnungAnuraFamilieBufonidaeGattungAnaxyrus

Southern Toad

Kategorie

Amphibien

Seltenheit

Common

Gefahr

1/5 · Sehr gering

Snaps

Mach den ersten Snap!

Interessante Fakten

A group of Southern Toads hanging out together is surprisingly called a "knot" of toads.

Males have a super loud, trilling "werrrr" call to attract mates from far away.

Southern Toads swallow food by pulling their eyeballs inward to help push it down!

Unlike us, these toads absorb all the water they need right through their skin!

Besondere Fähigkeiten

Southern Toads have special glands behind their eyes that squirt a bad-tasting poison to warn off predators.

Southern Toads can dig themselves backward into the soil with their strong hind legs to hide from danger or stay cool.

Southern Toads can subtly change their skin color to better match their surroundings, helping them hide from sharp-eyed predators.

Southern Toads can shoot out their long, sticky tongue incredibly fast to snatch up insects and other small prey.

Maße und Details

Länge: 5-11 cm
Gewicht: 0.02-0.07 kg
Lebenserwartung: 5-10 Jahre
Top Speed: 2 km/h
Gelegegröße: 2000-4000
Metamorphose: 40-70 Tage

Ernährung und Fütterung

These toads are expert insect hunters, using their sticky tongues to catch all sorts of small critters.

Altersunterschiede: Tadpoles eat algae and plant bits, but adults are hunters of insects and small invertebrates.

Hauptnahrung

beetles
ants
crickets
slugs
earthworms
spiders

Nahrungssuche

Ambush

Ökologische Zusammenhänge

eaten by

Common Garter Snake

Thamnophis sirtalis

Common Garter Snakes frequently prey on Southern Toads and their young.

eaten by

Raccoon

Procyon lotor

Raccoons often hunt and eat toads they find foraging at night.

hunts

Field Cricket

Gryllus assimilis

Southern Toads frequently catch and eat field crickets using their sticky tongues.

hunts

Black Slug

Arion ater

Slugs, like the black slug, are a common food source for these toads.

Merkmale

Einzelgänger

Einzelgänger leben den größten Teil ihres Lebens allein und interagieren mit Artgenossen nur zur Paarung oder zur Aufzucht der Jungen.

Gesang

Singende Tiere erzeugen komplexe Lautäußerungen, oft um Partner anzulocken, ihr Revier zu verteidigen oder innerhalb ihrer Art zu kommunizieren.

Getarnt

Getarnt beschreibt Organismen, die über eine Färbung oder Musterung verfügen, durch die sie mit ihrer Umgebung verschmelzen.

Insektenfressend

Dieses Merkmal kennzeichnet Organismen, deren Nahrung hauptsächlich aus Insekten und anderen kleinen Wirbellosen besteht.

Feuchtgebiet

Dieses Lebensraummerkmal kennzeichnet Arten, die in Feuchtgebieten vorkommen. Dies sind Landflächen, die dauerhaft oder saisonal mit Wasser gesättigt sind, darunter Marschland, Sümpfe und Moore.