Is the cane toad poisonous? Description, photo of the toad. Toad aga: brief description Toad aba

Toad yeah ( Bufo marinus) is one of the most poisonous animals on the planet, belongs to the amphibian class, the order Tailless, the real family, the genus of toad. It is also called the cane toad. There are no subspecies of this toad.

Toad aha - description, characteristics and photographs

The size of the amphibian is truly impressive: the aga toad sometimes weighs more than 1 kg, the body length is on average about 16 cm, although in rare cases it can reach 20 cm. Interestingly, females are larger than males. Only one species of toad can compete with the aga in size - this is the largest toad on the planet, Blomberg's toad ( Bufo blombergi).

This amphibian cannot be called cute: the back of the poisonous aga toad is gray or deep brown, covered with large dark spots. The abdomen is yellowish and also covered with dark spots, but smaller ones. The skin is warty and heavily keratinized.

Horizontally located pupils are a consequence of the nocturnal lifestyle of the aga toad. Like other toad species, the agi has webbed feet.

Where does the aga toad live? On what continent?

The homeland of the poisonous agi toad is Southern and Central America, habitat - from the Rio Grande River, flowing in Texas, to northeastern Peru and the Amazonian lowland. The amphibian does not tolerate cold, so all habitats of the agi toad, both natural and newly acquired, are located in tropical and temperate climate zones. The aga toad was artificially introduced into a number of countries and regions: Australia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and some Caribbean and Pacific islands. This was done so that the poisonous toad would exterminate agricultural pests. However, the poisonous properties of this amphibian aggressor were underestimated: in addition to pests, native species of amphibians and domestic animals also suffered from the poison of the aga toad.

Agi toad poison

The postauricular glands, which produce the famous aga toad venom, are located at the back of the skull. In addition, there are many tiny poisonous glands on the skin of the back and head. or who are bitten by a cane toad die instantly. It is also dangerous for humans: the deadly poison of the agi toad can penetrate the body, even if you simply pick up the amphibian with your hands. Sensing a threat, the aga immediately shoots poison at the enemy.

What does the aga toad eat?

The poisonous aga toad is distinguished from many other species of toads that feed mainly on insects by its omnivorous nature. Going hunting in the dark, this predatory amphibian, thanks to its poison, kills and eats not only various insects and worms, but also small rodents, for example, as well as birds, other toads, etc. If necessary, the cane toad can be content with carrion.

: its body length reaches 24 cm (usually 15-17 cm), weight - more than a kilogram. Males are slightly smaller than females. Aga's skin is highly keratinized and warty. The color is dim: dark brown or gray on top with large dark spots; the belly is yellowish, with frequent brown spots. Characterized by large parotid glands on the sides of the head, which produce a poisonous secretion, and bony supraorbital ridges. Leathery membranes are present only on the hind legs. Like other nocturnal species, the aga toad has horizontal pupils.

Spreading

The agi toad's natural range is from the Rio Grande River in Texas to central Amazonia and northeastern Peru. In addition, aga was specially introduced to the east coast of Australia (mainly eastern Queensland and the coast of New South Wales), to southern Florida, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, to combat insect pests. japanese islands Ogasawara and Ryukyu and to many Caribbean and Pacific islands, including Hawaii (in 1935) and Fiji. Aga can live in a temperature range of 5-40 °C.

Ecology

Agee toads are found from coastal sand dunes to forest edges tropical forests and mangroves. Unlike other amphibians, they are constantly found in the brackish waters of river mouths along the coast and on islands. For this, yeah, I got my due scientific name - Bufo marinus, « sea toad" The dry, keratinized skin of the aga is poorly suited for gas exchange, and, as a result, its lungs are among the most developed among amphibians. Aga can survive up to 50% loss of body water reserves. Like all toads, she prefers to spend the day in shelters, going out to hunt at dusk. The lifestyle is mostly solitary. Aha moves in short, quick jumps. Taking a defensive position, they become inflated.

Adult ags are hunted by crocodiles, freshwater lobsters, water rats, crows, herons and other animals that are immune to their poison. Tadpoles are eaten by dragonfly nymphs, aquatic beetles, some turtles and snakes. Many predators eat only the toad's tongue, or eat out the belly, which contains less poisonous internal organs.

Life cycle

Aga larvae are black in color and disproportionately small compared to adults. Tadpoles feed on algae and other aquatic plants, which they scrape off with five rows of teeth. Large tadpoles sometimes eat the eggs of other ags. Metamorphosis occurs 2-20 weeks after the larvae hatch (depending on nutrition and water temperature). Toads that have just undergone metamorphosis are also very small - only about 1-1.5 cm. After metamorphosis, young toads leave the pond and sometimes accumulate in large numbers on the shore. Puberty occurs at the age of 1-1.5 years. Agas live up to 10 years (in nature) and up to 15 years (in captivity). Only 0.5% of toads that hatch from eggs survive to reproductive age.

Nutrition

Adults are omnivores, which is not typical for toads: they eat arthropods and other invertebrates (bees, beetles, centipedes, cockroaches, locusts, ants, snails), but also other amphibians, small lizards, chicks and mouse-sized animals. They do not disdain carrion and garbage. On sea coasts they eat crabs and jellyfish. In the absence of food, they can engage in cannibalism.

Reproduction

Ag reproduction is mainly confined to the rainy season, when temporary reservoirs form in large numbers (June-October). Males gather in still or slow waters and call females with calls similar to loud purrs. The female lays 4-35 thousand eggs in one season. There is no concern for fertilized and laid eggs. Incubation lasts from 2 to 7 days. Both the eggs and tadpoles of the agi are poisonous to most animals and humans. After metamorphosis, this feature disappears in them until the development of the parotid glands.

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Aga is poisonous at all life stages. When an adult toad is disturbed, its glands secrete a milky white secretion containing bufotoxins; she is even capable of “shooting” it at a predator. Agi poison is potent; mainly affects the heart and nervous system, causing excessive salivation, convulsions, vomiting, arrhythmia, increased blood pressure, sometimes temporary paralysis and death from cardiac arrest. Simple contact with poisonous glands is sufficient for poisoning. The poison, which penetrates the mucous membrane of the eyes, nose and mouth, causes severe pain, inflammation and temporary blindness. The secretions of the skin glands of aga are traditionally used by the population of South America to wet arrowheads. The Choco Indians of western Colombia milked poisonous toads by placing them in bamboo tubes suspended over a fire, then collecting the secreted yellow poison in a ceramic bowl.

Meaning for humans

Aga is also known by other names, for example, “cane toad”

They tried to breed toads to exterminate insect pests on sugar cane and sweet potato plantations, as a result of which they spread widely outside their natural range and turned into pests themselves, causing poisoning of local predators who are not immune to their poison, and compete for food with local amphibians.

Agi toads in Australia

101 toads were shipped to Australia from Hawaii in June to help control sugarcane pests. In captivity, they managed to reproduce, and in August, more than 3,000 young toads were released onto plantations in northern Queensland. The agas were ineffective against pests (since they found other prey), but quickly began to increase their numbers and spread, reaching the border of New South Wales in the city, and the Northern Territory in the city. Currently, the distribution limit of this species in Australia shifts south and west by 25 km every year.

Currently, agas have a negative impact on the fauna of Australia, eating, displacing and causing poisoning of indigenous animals. Its victims include local species of amphibians and lizards and small marsupials, including those belonging to rare species. The spread of aga is associated with a decline in the number of marsupial martens, as well as large lizards and snakes (deadly and tiger snakes, black echidna). They also destroy apiaries, destroying honey bees. At the same time, a number of species successfully prey on these toads, including the New Guinea crow and black kite. Methods to combat agami have not yet been developed.

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See what “Toad aga” is in other dictionaries:

This article is about the animal. For the king of ancient Kish, see Aga (king of Kish). ? Yeah Scientific classification Kingdom: Animals ... Wikipedia

Aga: Toponym Aga river in Transbaikalia. Aga is a village near the station in the Trans-Baikal Territory, formerly the village of Khila. Aha is a city in Niigata Prefecture (Japan). Aga river on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. Aga river in Latvia, right tributary... ... Wikipedia

This term has other meanings, see Aha. ? Yeah... Wikipedia

Midwife, toad, ugly, angina, tonsillitis, freak, muzzle, cuttlefish, kikimora, yeah, monster, Baba Yaga, tonsillitis Dictionary of Russian synonyms. toad see sore throat Dictionary of synonyms of the Russian language. Practical guide. M.: Russian language. Z.E.... ... Synonym dictionary

Ege, yes, so, of course, okay, of course, yeah, definitely, undoubtedly; ah, ah, ba, ah! Dictionary of Russian synonyms. yeah see yes Dictionary of synonyms of the Russian language. Practical guide. M.: Russian language. Z. E. Alexandrova. 2011… Synonym dictionary

I ag a m. 1. Title of military leaders and chiefs of certain groups of court servants (in Sultan Turkey). 2. Used as a form of polite address, sometimes in combination with a name to an older or respected person (in Transcaucasia, Central Asia, and ... ... Modern Dictionary Russian language Efremova

The frog (Rana) is a representative of the class of amphibians belonging to the order Tailless, the family of true frogs.

Description of the frog

All representatives of frogs do not have a pronounced neck; their head seems to have grown together with a wide and short body. The absence of a tail is reflected in the very name of the order to which these amphibians belong. On the sides of the large and flat head are located bulging eyes. Like all land vertebrates, frogs have upper and lower eyelids. Under the lower eyelid you can find a nictitating membrane, the so-called third eyelid.

Behind each eye of a frog there is a place covered with thin skin (tympanic membrane). Two nostrils, which have special valves, are located slightly higher huge mouth with small teeth.

The front legs of the frog, equipped with four toes characteristic of all amphibians, are quite short. The hind legs are highly developed and have five toes. The space between them is covered with a leathery membrane; the fingers of the limbs do not have claws.

The only excretory opening located in the back of the body is the cloacal opening. The frog's body is covered with bare skin, thickly lubricated with mucus, which is secreted by special subcutaneous glands.

The frog's size ranges from 8 mm to 32 cm, and the coloring can be either single-color (brown, yellow, green) or variegated.

Types of frogs

The entire diversity of these amphibians is represented by subfamilies:

toad frogs;
shield-toed frogs;
African wood frogs;
real frogs;
dwarf frogs;
disc-toed frogs.

In total, there are more than 500 species of frogs in the world. In the territory Russian Federation the most common are pond and grass frogs. The world's largest frog reaches a length of 32 cm - this is the Goliath frog. The smallest frog in the world is the leaf frog, measuring 2 cm. In general, all types of frogs amaze with their diversity in size and color.

Where does the frog live?

The distribution area of frogs is huge. Due to the fact that representatives of this species are cold-blooded, it does not include areas with a critical climate. You won't see a frog in sandy deserts Africa, on the ice fields of Taimyr, Greenland and Antarctica. Some New Zealand islands were once not part of the frog's native areas, but now have distinct populations of the animals. The distribution of some species of frogs can be limited by both natural causes (mountain ranges, rivers, deserts, etc.) and man-made ones (highways, canals). In tropical conditions, the diversity of species is much greater than in areas with temperate or cold climates. Exist individual species frogs that are quite capable of living in salt water or even in the Arctic Circle.

Toad, contents, toad-aga, photo, reproduction - 4.7 out of 5 based on 9 votes

Toad-aha

The aga toad (Latin - “sea toad”) is a large amphibian of the toad family of the order Tailless. The body length can be from 15 cm to 24 cm, and the weight can reach more than a kilogram. Lives ten to twelve years. Males are smaller than females. Color: dark brown or gray above with large dark spots; the belly is yellowish, with frequent brown spots. Leathery membranes only on hind legs. There are bony supraorbital ridges. The pupils are horizontal, which is typical for nocturnal species. Bufo marinus is found from coastal sand dunes to tropical forest edges and mangroves. Unlike other amphibians, it can often be seen in the brackish waters of river mouths along the coast and on islands. This is why it got its scientific name. The aga toad is very poisonous: in large quantities the poison is found in the glands behind the ear, and less so in the glands throughout the body.

Therefore, they should not be picked up, especially by children, who may inadvertently squeeze the poisonous glands and for whom the poison can be fatal. Not only adult toads are poisonous - their eggs and tadpoles are also poisonous. Aga is poisonous at all life stages.

The lungs of aga toads are one of the most developed among amphibians due to dry and keratinized skin, which is poorly adapted for gas exchange. Aga can survive up to 50% loss of body water reserves. Prefers to spend time in shelters, going out hunting at dusk. The lifestyle is mostly solitary. Aha moves in short, quick jumps. Taking a defensive position, they become inflated.

It is not difficult to keep a “sea toad” in a terrarium. Suitable terrarium horizontal type. A forty-liter terrarium is suitable for one or two individuals. The terrarium is equipped with local daytime heating (thermal cord, thermal mat, downward incandescent lamp or mirror lamp). The temperature at the heating point during the day is up to 30-32°C, at night 25°C, the general background temperature in the terrarium is 25-28°C during the day, 22-24°C at night. A large temperature difference must be provided in the terrarium: from 18 °C in a “cool corner” to 40 °C under heating. Toads will choose the temperature they need. The drinking bowl is installed in a shaded corner. Toads can be kept in groups, pairs or alone.

The toad is undemanding when it comes to the composition of water (even brackish water). It prefers landscapes with dry soil, but during molting it moves to wet biotopes. Spends the day in various shelters and burrows, often buries itself in loose soil or leaf litter, and is active during twilight and night hours. Young toads are often active during the day.

Soil: coconut crumbs or pure high-moor peat, or a mixture of sand, leaf opal and peat, or gravel 4-5 cm, on which a layer of fresh soil is at least 10 cm, with moss on top.

Toads do not require high humidity, but they enjoy bathing every evening.

During the molting period, it is better not to disturb the toad. She climbs into some shelter, puffs up and hunches over until the layer of old skin on her back bursts. Then yeah, gradually, millimeter by millimeter, it moves the skin towards the mouth and eats it.

Immediately after handling animals, you should wash your hands thoroughly with soap.

Sex determination: if you make light pressing movements with the armpits of the front legs, the male will begin to grunt. Aga females are much larger than males, have smoother skin and fewer “warts.” Males are colored more uniformly, and the tops of their warts are pointed. Males have a resonator formed by the skin of the lower jaw, and upon reaching maturity, nuptial calluses (dark, rough areas of skin) appear on the inner toes of the front paws.

Feeding the aga toad

Tadpole diet: various algae, detritus, protozoa, rotifer worms, crustaceans, small invertebrates (daphnia, cyclops, brine shrimp, coretra), plant suspensions and special aquarium food.

Starter food for toads (no larger than 1 cm): fruit flies, newly hatched crickets and small bloodworms. After they mature, they should be given crickets, cockroaches, mollusks, worms, and with age, newborn baby mice, and later pubescent blind mice or newborn pups, rats and chickens should be added to the food. Tadpoles and small toads should be fed daily.

The diet of adult aga toads is very diverse: bees, beetles, centipedes, locusts, ants, snails, mealworms, zoobass, frogs, crickets (house, banana and others), cockroaches (marbled, American and others), other amphibians, small lizards, chicks, animals the size of a mouse. They do not disdain carrion and garbage. In the absence of food, they can engage in cannibalism. You can switch to feeding non-living food: pieces of lean meat, fish. It is necessary to give vitamins and calcium sprinkled in advance into the food. An adult mouse can attack a toad and cause injury to it, so it is recommended to paralyze it (the mouse) by breaking its spine before feeding. Adults are fed at least once every two days. The best time to feed toads is in the evening. It is common for them to grab food with their tongue, but grasping with their mouth is unusual for them, and they will have to be accustomed to this by giving them large mealworms.

Toads also love boiled rice and ripe fruits, canned food in the form of soft pieces of “meat”.

Vitamin and calcium supplements are very useful for the toad. Preparations in powder form are especially convenient to use - they are convenient to sprinkle on the toad's food before feeding. With this method of feeding, the amphibian receives exactly the portion of vitamins that it needs.

Breeding aga toads

In captivity, aga toads reproduce. By the age of one year they become sexually mature. It is possible to stimulate reproduction without the help of hormones. It is not necessary to adhere to seasonal rhythms, but in preparation for reproduction you need to arrange the following. In March, over the course of two weeks, daylight hours and the duration of daytime heating are gradually reduced until it is completely turned off. When there is eight hours of daylight, the night heating is turned off and food is no longer offered. Toads are kept under six-hour daylight, without heating, for about a month, at room temperature. To maintain moisture, the soil in the terrarium is sprayed once a week. The toads are brought out of the wintering quarters in the same rhythm in which they were placed, gradually increasing the daylight and heat. With an eight-hour day, the night heating is turned on and food is offered. The air temperature is increased to 28-30°C, the water temperature in the reservoir to 26-28°C. Aeration and filtration of the reservoir using an aquarium compressor, external filter or pump is necessary.

They breed in water. Mating is usually long, several hours. The clutch contains from 8 to 25,000 eggs. After laying eggs, adult animals are transplanted into another terrarium. Egg development takes about one to two days. Tadpoles develop within a month.

The water temperature for growing tadpoles is 24-26°C, constant aeration is required using an aquarium compressor, and adjusted filtration. To raise tadpoles, it is recommended to use special containers (with bridges for the babies to exit from the water to the shore after metamorphosis is completed). In order not to prolong the development period, tadpoles must be calibrated and seated in time.

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Toad aga - the most famous poisonous species South and Central America. Frogs are one of the most common animals on our planet; there are more than 2,500 species of these amphibians. They are found on all continents except Antarctica. Although no one knows what scientists will eventually be able to discover under a multi-kilometer layer of ice.

Description

The diversity of these animals is amazing. They differ in color, size, toxicity, and can live in water and in the desert. Each species is unique in its own way. The aga toad also has its own characteristics. The description will give you an idea of what kind of amphibian it is.

The skin of young animals is smooth, in adults it is rough and keratinized, covered with poisonous skin glands and warts.
The body is heavy, with a noticeable belly. The paws are short and muscular, covered with sharp warty growths. Only the hind feet have webbed feet. In sexually mature males, nuptial calluses are clearly visible on the limbs, which help them to stay tightly on the female during mating.
Bone black ridges are clearly visible on the head, more pointed in males. They run along a line from the nostrils to the eyes. On the sides of the head there are large paired parotid glands (paratoids) that produce poison. Toads of this species are distinguished by the shape of their head and the presence of an eardrum. Semicircular bony protrusions are located clearly above the upper eyelid. The mouth is wide, which allows you to swallow quite big catch.
The aga toad (Bufo marinus) is second in size only to one species of its own kind - Bufo blombergi (Blomberg's toad). Individuals grow up to 25 cm in length and up to 12 cm in width, weight can exceed 2 kg. Average size up to 15 cm, body weight within 1 kg. Males are smaller than females. An individual with a live weight of 2.6 kg and a body length of 38 cm is listed in the Guinness Book of Records.
Well-developed lungs allow them to easily do without water. Well tolerated straight Sun rays.
Life expectancy in wildlife is no more than 10 years. Mainly led by a single person night look life. It goes hunting at dusk. Juveniles are also active during the day.

This is one of the ugliest toads on Earth. It protects itself from its enemies with poison, which it can shoot at a distance of up to 1.5 meters and very accurately. When faced with a potential threat, the toad inflates and rises on its paws, noticeably increasing in size.

Habitat

South and Central America are recognized as their homeland. The northern border is the Rio Grande River (Texas, USA). In the south, toads settled as far as the Amazonian lowland and northeastern Peru. Toads are able to live at temperatures from +5 0 to +40 0 C in tropical and temperate climate, at an altitude of up to 1600 meters above sea level.

Today, agu can be found in Australia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Caribbean and Pacific islands (Hawaii, Fiji), China, Japan (Ogasawara, Ryukyu). This is due to the fact that they tried to use toads as biological weapons in the fight against agricultural pests in reed plantations.

The aga toad (its photo can be seen in the article) prefers dry soils. During periods of molting and reproduction, it looks for more moist areas. Animals live in open forests and shrubs, evergreen tropical and subtropical hard-leaved forests. Floodplains of rivers, shores of lakes and reclamation ditches, and mangroves are quite suitable for the life of amphibians. Individuals are found on sea coasts, in the mouths of rivers with low salinity, so they have another name Bufo marinus - sea toad.

Reproduction

Sexual maturity occurs at 1-1.5 years. Rainy season (on different continents its terms) creates a favorable environment, moist and warm. It is at this time that it comes mating season. Under favorable conditions, there is no clearly defined breeding season. Animals are capable of bearing offspring all year round.

The male calls the female with a peculiar singing. Before fertilizing the eggs, the male can “ride” on the back of his girlfriend for up to 2 weeks. The aga toad lays from 4,000 to 35,000 eggs in the form of a long (up to 20 m) cord. Selects bodies of water with slow currents and clean, clear water. After laying eggs, parents do not show any concern for the future offspring.

Nutrition

The poisonous aga toad stands out for another feature. These animals are practically omnivores. Anything that can fit into their huge mouth is suitable as food. They go hunting after dark, react to the movement of prey, and find a motionless victim using their sense of smell.

The main diet consists of insects, including honey bees. They hunt amphibians, small vertebrates: chicks, lizards, small rodents. On sea coast They eat jellyfish and crabs. Toads can feed on carrion. Lack of food provokes cannibalism.

equipment for a local daytime heating point to ensure a temperature of +25 0 C... +28 0 C during the day, and +22 0 C... 24 0 C at night;
the presence of a swimming pond, the water of which is changed daily;
deep and soft soil - toads prefer to burrow into loose soil during daylight hours.

The composition of the litter may vary. Typically, pure peat or peat mixed with sand, fallen leaves, moss, coconut chips, and fresh soil are used.

They feed on crickets, shellfish, worms, cockroaches, newborn mice, small rodents, and chickens. It is recommended to include vitamins, vegetables, and feed additives rich in calcium into the diet.

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The aga toad is capable of producing poison containing 14 chemical substances. The lethal combination primarily affects the heart and nervous system. Manifestations of poisoning include excessive uncontrolled salivation, arrhythmia, vomiting, increased blood pressure, convulsions, and paralysis. Death occurs from cardiac arrest.

People have known about the properties of poison since time immemorial. It was used for various purposes:

in Japan it was used as an aphrodisiac and as a cure for hair loss;
South American Indians lubricated hunting arrowheads and spears;
the priests used it (in small doses) as narcotic drug;
the Chinese sought to lower the heart rate, which is important during heart surgery;
Voodoo sorcerers used poison to create zombies.

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