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All tagged Amphibians
Let’s talk about frogs and toads!
I often write pretty lengthy posts about specific species, or subjects relating to manuscripts on which I am currently working. However, I thought it would be fun to write a series of short blog posts that go back to basics on one of my favourite extant orders of the amphibia class – Anura.
I cannot think of many events to which I look forward as much as TetZooCon every year, and I am glad to report that this year’s event did not disappoint. Once again, Darren Naish and John Conway managed to put together an incredible panel of talks and palaeoartists for all of us Tetrapod Zoology fanatics to enjoy. Prepare yourselves, my friends, because this post will be a VERY long one!
A few weeks ago, I was tidying up my portable hard drive and came across a few photographs that my brother took of a couple of Yellow Cururu Toads (Rhinella icterica) copulating. He'd found them during a trip to the countryside of Sao Paulo, Brazil, at the end of 2011 - towards the end of the species' breeding season.
This probably applies to most people that live in the UK, but I suddenly noticed that I usually don't see much of my very pale feet unless I'm on holiday. In fact, I don't really think about them much either on a day to day basis. Therefore, I never thought about what the shape of my feet may tell me about my heritage. I can honestly say that I have done no research on this topic whatsoever.
The Conraua goliath is one of those species that most people with no interest in amphibians will have heard of because of its size. The 'biggest frog' factoid being an almost must for any pub quiz...or perhaps more realistically, for any pub quiz I would certainly enjoy.
If you are lucky enough to have ever witnessed a wild common toad hunting, you will understand what I mean when I say that they are pretty endearing creatures. They have an incredibly entertaining 'walking' style that never fails to make me laugh.
