There are over 400 species of "true" toads, the Bufonidae. The marine toads are the only toads which live in Australia, where they were introduced by people. True toads have poison parotoid glands that can paralyze or even kill dogs. However, some other animals eat true toads without ill effects. Toad poisons are secreted by warts. Touching them is not harmful to humans.
There are over 400 species of tree frogs, many of which can change the color of their skin. Tree frogs have sticky feet, which helps them to climb and hang on to the big leaves. "True frogs", the Ranidae, are found in every continent except Antarctica. The family has over 700 species. The feet of burrowing frogs feet help them to dig.
Noel Edmonds
Noel Ernest Edmonds (born 22 December 1948) is an English television presenter. He is best known for hosting the television programmes "Noel's House Party" and "Deal or No Deal". Edmonds is host of a game show called "Are You Smarter Than A Ten Year Old" (the British version of "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?").
He was a DJ on BBC Radio 1 throughout the 1970s. Edmonds also presented Swap Shop.
Edmonds was married to Gillian Slater in 1971. The marriage ended in divorce after eleven years. In July 1986, he married Helen Soby. They have four daughters: Charlotte, Lorna, Olivia and Alice. The couple bought an estate at Jacobstowe, near Okehampton, Devon as a family home. In 2004, he and Soby divorced. There was much tabloid publicity because of her extramarital affair.
It was reported that Edmonds was involved with English teacher and former Miss England Pauline Bull.
On July 23, 2009 Edmonds married his third wife, Liz Davies. She was a make-up artist on the programme Deal or No Deal.
As a result of his success on "Deal or No Deal", Edmonds purchased a new home in Devon, a £1.7 million Grade-II manor house.
Edmonds was one of the trio Brown Sauce, along with Maggie Philbin and Keith Chegwin. They released the single "I Wanna Be a Winner" in 1981. It reached number 15 in the UK singles chart.
Quizmania
Quizmania was a quiz television show on ITV Play. Viewers at home phoned in to guess answers to questions to win money.
"Quizmania" was on ITV from 2005-2007. It has been online since 2008.
Davina McCall
Davina Lucy Pascale McCall (born 16 October 1967) is an English television presenter. She was born in London to a French mother and British father. She is best known for having presented the UK version of "Big Brother" through its time on Channel 4 (2000–2010). She is the presenter of quiz show "The Million Pound Drop Live.
Artiodactyl
The Artiodactyla are even-toed ungulates, an order of mammals. They have an even number of toes: two or four. For example, camelids or animals of the Giraffidae family have two toes, but hippopotami have four toes.
Whales are ocean creatures without toes, but are classified in the related super-order Cetartiodactyla because their ancestors were even toed ungulates.
The ruminants (Ruminantia and Tylopoda) ruminate their food—they regurgitate and re-chew it. This is a very important evolutionary advance. Their stomachs are divided into three to four sections.
After eating, the food re-enters the mouth, where it is chewed again. The food passes to the "fermentation chamber" (rumen and reticulum), where it is kept in continual motion by rhythmic contractions. Microbes (bacteria, protozoa, and fungi) produce cellulase. The cellulase breaks down the cellulose found in plant material.
This form of digestion has two advantages: plants that are indigestible to other species can be digested and used, and time taken for actual food consumption is shorter. The animal spends only a short time out in the open with his head to the ground—rumination can take place later, in a sheltered area.
Odd-toed ungulate
Odd-toed ungulates are the Perissodactyla, an order of mammals.
Odd-toed ungulates have an uneven number of toes: Horses have only one toe, rhinoceros have three toes, and tapirs have four toes on the front feet and three toes on the hind feet.
Their digestive system is more basic than the even-toed ungulates. A key difference between the two is that odd-toed ungulates digest plant cellulose in their intestines rather than in one or more stomach chambers as the even-toed ungulates do.
Horses, for example, get much less nutrition out of grass than bovines do. This has the consequence that horses have to stop and feed more often, which in turn makes them more liable to predators. However, horses are very well-adapted for running, more so than many oxen or other Artiodactyls.
The living ungulates are a much-reduced group: the horses (including zebras), the tapirs and the rhinoceros.
Condor
Condor is the name for two species of New World vultures. Each is the only species in its genus. They are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere. They are:
Condors are part of the family Cathartidae, whereas the 15 species of Old World vultures are in the family Accipitridae, that also includes falcons, hawks, and eagles. The New World and Old World vultures evolved from different ancestors.
Condors are scavengers. They feed on carrion (dead animals). Their distinctive bare heads are an adaptation to their feeding method. It helps to keep them clean as they feed inside a carcass.
The Andean Condor has a wingspan of between 274 and 310 cm, and weights around 11–15 kg. The California Condor is smaller.
Fossils from the Pleistocene era have been found in various parts of North America, including New York and Florida. California Condors or their ancestors once lived on the west coast of North America as well as all the way to the eastern coast. An ancient relative of the condor, "Argentavis magnificens" from South America, may have been the largest flying bird ever with a wingspan of .
Carrion
Carrion is the carcass of a dead animal. There are several kinds of animal that feed on such meat, such as vultures, hyenas, condors, or Tasmanian Devils. Carrion is an important source of food for several kinds of carnivores and omnivores.
The Carrion beetles also feed on it. Some plants fake the smell of carrion (they smell like carrion), so that they will attract insects they eat. Predators do not normally feed on carrion- they hunt and kill the animals they eat.
Chongqing
Chongqing (Simplified Chinese: 重庆, Traditional Chinese: 重慶; pinyin: Chóngqìng; Postal System Pinyin: Chungking) is a city and a district in Central China.
The Chongqing district is the most populated district of China and has 31,442,300 inhabitants (2005).
Chongqing is said to be the semi-mythical State of Ba that began in 11th century BC, when the Ba people began living here until they were destroyed by the State of Qin in 316 BC.
The Qin emperor ordered a new city to be constructed, called Jiang (江州) and Chu Prefecture (楚州).
In 581 AD (Sui Dynasty), Chongqing was renamed to Yu Prefecture (渝州).
In 1102 the city was renamed Gong Prefecture.
In 1189 renamed Yu Prefecture to Chongqing Subprefecture.
In 1362 (Yuan Dynasty), Ming Yuzhen, a peasant rebel leader, established Daxia Kingdom at Chongqing for a short time.
In 1621, another short-lived kingdom of Daliang was established there.
In 1891, Chongqing became the first inland commerce port open to foreigners.
Since 1929, Chongqing was a municipality of the Republic of China.
Chongqing was the provisional capital of the government of Chiang Kai-shek during the Second Chinese-Japanese War from 1937 to 1945.
The Japanese bombed Chongqing very hard in World War II.
In 1954, the municipality was reduced to a provincial city of the People's Republic.
Bologna
Bologna (Emilian and Romagnol: "Bulåggna") is the capital and largest city of Emilia-Romagna in Northern Italy. It has about 390,000 inhabitants.
Bologna was founded by the Etruscans with the name "Felsina" (c. 534 BC) and became a Roman colony in 189 BC.