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This picture of the marine toad was taken of an employee holding one at the Utica Zoo. |
The marine toad's common name is the marine toad and its scientific name is Bufora marinus. It is placed in the amphibian class. It is found in northern and central South America. It mostly lives in the marine biome. It likes weedy areas, or on the shore. The marine toad is usually about 5 inches long and weighs arout 3 pounds. The color of this animal is a brownish-red color. The marine toad makes a croaking sound to attract mates. Many toads do not migrate. This one does not. The marine toad protects itself by blowing up so the predator can't swallow it. It can also camouflage itself in the sand or weeds and releases a poison so when an animal bites it, it will get very ill. During reproduction, the female lays several batches of eggs, up to a total of 35,000 in a year. The young toads, after completing the tadpole stage, grow rapidly and reach the length of 5 inches in a year. Special adaptions this organism have to survive in its environment are the colors on it help to camouflage it from predators. |
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As we observed the marine toad we saw that it did not do much when we were looking at it. It seemed to lie there not doing anything, although once it tried to jump out of the zoo keeper's hand while we were observing it. |
The niche of a marine toad is that it will eat insects so the insect population will not over crowd. It lives in a marine biome where there is lots of water, shade and moist areas. |
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The marine toad adapts to its environment by finding shady places to get out of the sun. If it doesn't find shady places it would over heat itself or dry out its skin and die. It also has a poison so when a bigger animal tries to eat it, it will get very sick or maybe even die. Camouflage in its coloring also helps to protect the marine toad from its predators.
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People have been spilling oil into the ocean, killing animals such as the marine toad and destroying the habitat in which it lives. |
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" Marine Toad" International Wildlife Encyclopedia 1990 ed. |
