Miyako toad explained

The Miyako toad (Bufo gargarizans miyakonis) is a subspecies of the Asiatic toad that is native to the Miyako Islands, in the Ryūkyū Islands of Japan.[1]

Taxonomy

In 1927, Japanese zoologist Okada Yaichirō included Bufo bufo miyakonis (Schlegel) in a study of the country's "tailless batrachians"; however, no further details were provided, making this a nomen nudum.[2] The Miyako toad was first described, as Bufo bufo miyakonis, i.e., as a subspecies of the Common toad, by Okada in 1931, with Miyako-jima in the Ryūkyū Islands given as the type locality.[3] [4] In 1947, Inger, arguing that Okada did not sufficiently distinguish his new subspecies from the Asiatic toad of China, treated this name as a synonym of Bufo bufo gargarizans.[5] In 1980, et al., based on laboratory crosses, recommended the toad be treated as a subspecies of the Japanese common toad, as Bufo japonicus miyakonis.[6] In 1984, concluded the Miyako toad was a subspecies of the Asiatic toad, i.e., Bufo gargarizans miyakonis.[2] [4] In its native Japan, the toad's vernacular name is .[1] Though sometimes thought to have been introduced, a Late Pleistocene fossil bufonid has been identified from Miyako-jima.[1] [7] [8]

Description

The Miyako toad is somewhat warty, but less so than the Japanese common toad.[9] It has a grey-brown to reddish-brown back with some paler spots and stripes, and a whitish belly with some black spots.[9] Males have a snout–vent length (SVL) of 61-, with a mean of, while females are a little larger, at 77-, mean of .[1] Its width is around 36% of its SVL, its hand and arm length, 44%, the length of its tibia, 35% in males and 33% in females, and its relatively flat parotoid gland, c. 17%.[1] Males have black nuptial pads.[1] There is no vocal sac.[1]

Distribution and habitat

The Miyako toad is native to Miyako-jima and Irabu-jima in the Miyako Islands, where it lives among the grasses and fields of sugarcane, but has also been introduced to Okinawa Island as well as Kitadaitō-jima and Minamidaitō-jima in the Daitō Islands.[1] [10]

Ecology

The Miyako toad's diet largely comprises small invertebrates such as ants, beetles, snails, and worms.[1] The breeding season runs from September to March.[1] Its mating call includes five distinct notes, lasting in total some 1.5 seconds.[1] Females lay some twelve to fourteen thousand eggs, some 1.7- in diameter.[1] The small dark tadpoles reach a length of around ; the SVL on metamorphosis, which occurs after March, is .[1] [9]

Conservation

The Miyako toad is classed as Near Threatened on the Ministry of the Environment Red List.[11]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: ja:日本産カエル大鑑 . Encyclopaedia of Japanese Frogs . ja, en . Matsui, Masafumi . Maeda, Norio . Bun-Ichi Sogo Shuppan . Tokyo . 2018 . 40–43 . 978-4-8299-8843-5.
  2. Morphometric variation analyses and revision of the Japanese toads (Genus Bufo, Bufonidae) . Matsui Masafumi .

    fr:Masafumi Matsui

    . 1984 . Contributions from the Biological Laboratory, Kyoto University . 0452-9987 . 26 . 3–4 . 209–428 . 2433/156031.
  3. Book: The Tailless Batrachians of the Japanese Empire . . 1931 . Tokyo . Imperial Agricultural Experiment Station . 47.
  4. Web site: Bufo gargarizans Cantor, 1842 . . 11 May 2022.
  5. Preliminary survey of the amphibians of the Riukiu Islands . . Fieldiana: Zoology . 0015-0754 . 32 . 5 . 295–352 . 8 December 1947 . 10.5962/bhl.title.2991. free .
  6. Inter- and intraspecific hybrids among Japanese, European and American toads . Kawamura, T. . Nishioka, M. . Ueda, H. . Scientific Report of the Laboratory for Amphibian Biology, Hiroshima University . 0386-3166 . 1980 . 4 . 1–125 . 10.15027/333.
  7. Book: ja:新日本両生爬虫類図鑑 . Amphibians and Reptiles of Japan . ja . . 2021 . 39–41 . 978-4-88325-734-8.
  8. Book: Fossil frogs from Pinza-Abu Cave, Miyako Island, Okinawa, Japan . Nokariya, H . Hasegawa, Y. .

    ja:長谷川善和

    . ja:ピンザアブ:ピンザアブ洞穴発掘調査報告 . Pinza-Abu: Reports on Excavation of the Pinza-Abu Cave . ja . Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education . Naha . 1985 . 151–159.
  9. Book: Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Japan . Goris, Richard C. . Maeda, Norio . Krieger Publishing Company . Malabar . 1-57524-085-8 . 2004 . 46–48.
  10. Book: ja:レッドデータブック2014 —日本の絶滅のおそれのある野生生物— 3 爬虫類・両生類 . Red Data Book 2014 — Threatened Wildlife of Japan — Volume 3, Reptilia / Amphibia . ja . . Gyōsei Corporation . 2014 . 978-4-324-09897-4 . 145.
  11. Web site: https://ikilog.biodic.go.jp/rdbdata/files/redlist2020/redlist2020_ryouseirui.csv . ja:両生類 . Amphibians . ja . . 27 March 2020 . 11 May 2022.