Smooth-sided toad explained

The smooth-sided toad or spotted toad (Rhaebo guttatus), formerly known as Bufo guttatus, is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is found in the Amazonian Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, as well as the Guianas (French Guiana, Guyana, and Suriname). Specimens from southern Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil might represent Rhaebo ecuadorensis described in 2012.[1] [2]

Description

Males growth to about 15cm (06inches) snout–vent length.[3] Females are larger, at up to 17.4cm (06.9inches),[2] [3] possibly even 10inches, in snout–vent length.[4] The dorsal color is cream colored or very light brown to reddish brown. The belly is a darker shade. The species has a characteristically prominent preocular ridge that is present even in juveniles.[3]

The smooth sided toad secretes a toxin from a gland behind their eyes known as a bufotoxin, it has been known to cause heart failure in humans if ingested. This toxin is the toad's main line of defense against predators.[5]

Habitat and conservation

Its natural habitats are tropical moist lowland forests, in particular mature gallery forests. It occurs on the ground or in deep leaf-litter on the forest floor. It is locally threatened by habitat loss.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Rhaebo guttatus (Schneider, 1799) . Frost, Darrel R. . 2016 . Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0 . American Museum of Natural History . 30 January 2016.
  2. Web site: Rhaebo guttatus . Coloma, L. A. . Mueses-Cisneros J. J. . 30 January 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160131055332/http://www.anfibioswebecuador.ec/fichaespecie.aspx?Id=168 . 31 January 2016 .
  3. Mueses-Cisneros, J. J. . D. F. Cisneros-Heredia . R. W. McDiarmid . amp . 2012 . A new Amazonian species of Rhaebo (Anura: Bufonidae) with comments on Rhaebo glaberrimus (Gunther, 1869) and Rhaebo guttatus (Schneider, 1799) . Zootaxa . 3447 . 22–40 . 10.11646/zootaxa.3447.1.2 . 10088/21442 .
  4. Web site: Smooth-Sided Toad . Animal Fact Sheets . Woodland Park Zoo . 30 January 2016.
  5. Web site: Smooth sided toad (Rhaebo guttatus) . 25 January 2014 . Frogs.cc . 28 July 2015.