toads

Racing cane toads reveals they get cold feet on Southern Australia invasion

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 in Perth or Sydney, even with climate change. According to research by Dr ...

Invasion of the cane toads

Why do some invasive species expand rapidly in a new environment while others do not" Scientists from the United States and Australia are beginning to make headway on this question after analyzing how fast cane toads invaded different regions of Australia. Using over 70 years of data o...

Biologists rediscover endangered frog population

...oss, effects of climate change and the spread of a deadly pathogen called the chytrid fungus. The mountain yellow-legged frog is one of three frogs or toads on the federal Endangered Species List in Southern California. Prior to this recent discovery, USGS researchers had estimated there were about 122 adu...

Aussie meat ants may be invasive cane toad's Achilles' heel

... Ecologists in Australia have discovered that cane toads are far more susceptible to being killed and eaten...and activity patterns in meat ants, metamorph cane toads and seven native Australian frog species. They found that, unlike the native frogs, cane toads are poorly equipped to escape the meat ants. Ac...

Global warming link to amphibian declines in doubt

... as previously thought, according to biologists. The findings, which contradict two widely held views, could help reveal what is killing the frogs and toads and aid in their conservation. "We are currently in the midst of a sixth mass extinction event," said Peter Hudson, the Willaman professor of biolo...

New CU-Boulder study shows diversity decreases chances of parasitic disease

...of Colorado at Boulder study showing that American toads who pal around with gray tree frogs reduce their c...ay tree frog tadpoles, parasitic infections in the toads dropped by almost half, said Johnson, lead author ...gue, he said. "In the absence of parasites, the toads and frogs are pure competitors," Johnson said. "B...

New study points to agriculture in frog sexual abnormalities

... irrigation canal would seem a healthier place for toads than a ditch by a supermarket parking lot. But ...hreat to amphibians, UF zoologists have found that toads in suburban areas are less likely to suffer from reproductive system abnormalities than toads near farms where some had both testes and ovaries...

Toad research could leapfrog to new muscle model

...o do work; they can't do work by lengthening." A spring also can only do work by shortening. By example, Nishikawa explains that the jaw muscles in toads and chameleons shorten in the lower jaw, and the opening of the jaws causes the tongue to stretch by its own momentum. "When a toad or chameleon ca...

Road losses add up, taxing amphibians and other animals

...e include habitat loss and degradation, disease, pollution, competition from introduced exotic species, and threats posed by climate change. Frogs, toads and salamanders are all amphibians, a class of four-legged animals known for their moist, scale-free skin. Most species begin life as gilled, water-dw...

Nonvenomous Asian snakes 'borrow' defensive poison from toxic toads

...s of research on the snake's dependence on certain toads in this week's online issue of the journal Proceed...process allows the snakes to store toxins from the toads in their neck glands. When under attack, the snake..., are rare. "A snake that's dependent on a diet of toads for chemical defense is highly unusual," said Hutc...

toads in Biological Dictionary

Nerve chord

...ouch at some place. touch base. touch down. touch for ... 2. A dorsal, hollow nerve chord present at some time in its life cycle. ... Frogs and toads poses vocal chords . 7. Brain with ten pairs of cranial nerves . ... Dorsal nerve chord . Pharyngeal pouches. Post-anal tail. Cephalochordata....