Toad aga - the most famous poisonous species of South and Central America. Frogs are one of the most common animals on our planet, there are more than 2500 species of these amphibians. They are found on all continents except Antarctica. Although no one knows what scientists will eventually be able to detect under a multi-kilometer layer of ice.
Description
The variety of these animals is amazing. They are distinguished by color, size, toxicity, can live in water and in the desert. Each species is unique in its own way. The toad aha has its own peculiarities. The description will give an idea of what kind of amphibian it is.
- Order Tailless, a family of Real toads. It has no subspecies.
- Body color is usually dark brown. Black spots are clearly visible on the back, spots on the abdomen are small red and brown shades.
- The skin of young animals is smooth, in adults it is rough and horny, covered with poisonous skin glands and warts.
- The body is overweight, with a noticeable abdomen. Paws muscular short, covered with sharp warty growths. Eardrums are only on hind legs. In mature males, mating corns are clearly visible on the limbs, which help them to stay firmly on the female during mating.
- Bone black crests are clearly visible on the head, more pointed in males. Pass along the line from the nostrils to the eyes. On the sides of the head are the parotid large paired glands (paratoids) that produce poison. Toads of this species differ in the shape of the head and the presence of the eardrum. Semicircular bony protrusions are located clearly above the upper eyelid. The mouth is wide, which allows swallowing rather large prey.
- Toad aga (Bufo marinus) in size is second only to one species of its kind - Bufo blombergi (Blomberg toad). Individuals grow up to 25 cm in length and up to 12 cm in width, weight can exceed 2 kg. The average size is up to 15 cm, body weight within 1 kg. Males are smaller than females. An individual with a live weight of 2.6 kg and a body length of 38 cm is listed in the Guinness Book of Records.
- Well-developed lungs allow them to safely do without water. They tolerate direct sunlight.
- Life expectancy in the wild is no more than 10 years. Leads mostly solitary nocturnal lifestyle. He goes hunting at dusk. Young individuals are active during the day.
This is one of the ugliest toads on Earth. It is protected from its enemies by poison, which can shoot at a distance of up to 1.5 meters and is very aimed. When faced with a potential threat, the toad inflates and rises on its paws, significantly increasing in size.
Habitat
Recognized as the homeland of South and Central America. The northern border is the Rio Grande River (Texas, USA). In the south, toads settled down to the Amazon lowland and northeastern Peru. Toads are able to live at temperatures from +5 0 to +40 0 in a tropical and temperate climate, at an altitude of up to 1600 meters above sea level.
Today, aga can be found in Australia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Caribbean and Pacific Islands (Hawaii, Fiji), China, Japan (Ogasawara, Ryukyu). This is due to the fact that toads were tried to be used as biological weapons in pest control on reed plantations.
Toad aga (her photo can be seen in the article) prefers dry soils. During periods of molting and breeding, it searches for more moist areas. Animals live in light forests and shrubs, evergreen tropical and subtropical hard-leaved forests. The floodplains of rivers, shores of lakes and reclamation ditches, mangroves are quite suitable for the life of amphibians. Individuals are found on sea coasts, in river mouths with low salinity, so they have another name Bufo marinus - sea toad.
Breeding
Puberty occurs at 1-1.5 years. The rainy season (on different continents, its time limits) creates a favorable environment, moist and warm. It is at this time that the mating season begins. In favorable conditions, a clear breeding season is absent. Animals are able to bear offspring all year round.
The male calls the female with a peculiar singing. Before fertilizing eggs, the male can "ride" on the back of a girlfriend for up to 2 weeks. The toad aga lays from 4,000 to 35,000 eggs in the form of a long (up to 20 m) cord. Selects bodies of water with slow flow and clear, clear water. After the deposition of eggs, parents do not care about future offspring.
Nutrition
The poisonous toad aga stands out for another feature. These animals are almost omnivorous. Anything that can fit in their huge mouth is suitable as feed. They go hunting after dark, react to the movement of prey, and the immobile victim is found with the help of smell.
The main diet is made up of insects, including honey bees. They hunt amphibians, small vertebrates: chicks, lizards, small rodents. On the sea coast eat jellyfish and crabs. Toads can eat carrion. Lack of food provokes cannibalism.
Home Content
Keeping at home the toad aha does not cause difficulties. Use terrariums with a volume of at least 40 liters. Primary requirements:
- equipping the local daytime heating point to ensure temperatures of +25 0 ... +28 0 during the day, and +22 0 ... 24 0 – at night;
- the presence of a swimming pond, in which water is changed daily;
- deep and soft soil - toads in the daytime prefer to bury themselves in loose soil.
The composition of the litter may be different. Usually they use pure peat or peat mixed with sand, fallen leaves, moss, coconut crumbs, fresh ground.
They are fed with crickets, clams, worms, cockroaches, newborn mice, small rodents, chickens. It is recommended to introduce vitamins, vegetables, and calcium-rich feed additives into the diet.
Poison
Toad aga is capable of producing poison containing 14 chemicals. The killer combination primarily affects the heart and nervous system. The manifestation of poisoning is profuse uncontrolled salivation, arrhythmia, vomiting, increased blood pressure, convulsions, paralysis. Death occurs from cardiac arrest.
People have known about the properties of poison since time immemorial. Used it for different purposes:
- used in Japan as an aphrodisiac and as a medicine for hair loss;
- South American Indians smeared hunting arrowheads and spears;
- priests used it (in small doses) as a drug;
- the Chinese sought a lower heart rate, which is important for heart surgery;
- Voodoo sorcerers used poison for zombies.