Surinam toad

Surinam Toad
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Pipidae
Genus:	Pipa
Species:	P. pipa
Binomial name
Pipa pipa (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Pipa americana Laurenti, 1768

The gray shape is the Surinam Toad.

The Surinam toad or star-fingered toad (Spanish: aparo, rana comun de celdillas, rana tablacha, sapo chinelo, sapo chola, or sapo de celdas) (Pipa pipa) is a species of frog in the Pipidae family.

It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, swamps, freshwater marshes, and intermittent freshwater marches. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Description

The appearance of the toad is somewhat like a leaf. It is almost completely flat, and colored in a mottled brown. Feet are broadly webbed with the front toes having small, star-like appendages. Sizes of close to 20 cm (8 in), are recorded, though 10-13 cm (4–5 in) is more typical. The Surinam toad has minute eyes, no teeth and no tongue.

Reproduction

A Surinam toad with eggs embedded in the skin

Surinam toads are most well known for their remarkable reproductive habits. Unlike the majority of toads, the males of this species cannot attract mates with croaks and other sounds often associated with these aquatic animals. Instead they produce a sharp clicking sound by snapping the hyoid bone in their throat.^[1] The partners rise from the floor while in amplexus and flip through the water in arcs. During each arc, the female releases 3-10 eggs, which get embedded in the skin on her back by the male's movements. After implantation the eggs sink into the skin and form pockets over a period of several days, eventually taking on the appearance of an irregular honeycomb. The larvae develop through the tadpole stage inside these pockets, eventually emerging from the mother's back as fully developed toads, though they are less than an inch long (2 cm). Once they have emerged from their mother's back, the toads begin a largely solitary life.

Whole body view

Close-up view

Museum samples of a female Surinam toad with embedded, fully formed froglets on the back

References

1. ^ Piper, Ross (2007), Extraordinary Animals: An Encyclopedia of Curious and Unusual Animals, Greenwood Press.

• La Marca, E., Azevedo-Ramos, C., Silvano, D., Coloma, L.A., Ron, S. & Hardy, J. 2004. Pipa pipa. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 23 July 2007.

External links

Data related to Pipa pipa at Wikispecies Media related to Pipa pipa at Wikimedia Commons