A parasitic fly, "Lucilia bufonivora", attacks adult common toads. It lays its eggs on the toad's skin. When these hatch, the larvae crawl into the toad's nostrils and eat its flesh.
The common toad comes out of hibernation in spring. Large numbers of toads move towards the breeding ponds. The toads meet on certain ponds that they favour. Adults use the same pond year after year. Over 80% of males marked as juveniles have been found to return to the pond at which they were spawned.
The males arrive first and stay for several weeks. The females only stay long enough to mate and spawn. Rather than fighting for the right to mate with a female, male toads use the pitch of their voice. Croaking gives a sign of body size and prowess. Fights do sometimes happen. Male toads outnumber female toads at breeding ponds.
The males mount on the females' backs. They hold the females with their front limbs in a grip called amplexus. The males are very enthusiastic. They will try to grasp fish or inanimate objects and often mount on the backs of other males. Sometimes several toads form a heap, each male trying to grasp the female at the base. It is a stressful period and deaths are high among breeding toads. A successful male stays in amplexus for several days. The female lays a long, double string of small black eggs. He fertilises them with his sperm. The egg strings may have 3,000 to 6,000 eggs and be in length. They get tangled in plant stalks.
The strings of eggs absorb water and swell in size. Small tadpoles hatch out after two to three weeks. At first they hold onto the remains of the strings and feed on the jelly. They later attach themselves to the underside of the leaves of water weed before becoming free swimming. The tadpoles look like those of the common frog ("Rana temporaria"). They are a darker colour, being blackish above and dark grey below. They can be told apart from the tadpoles of other species by the fact that the mouth is the same width as the space between the eyes, and this is twice as large as the distance between the nostrils. Over a few weeks their legs develop and their tail slowly gets reabsorbed. By twelve weeks of age, they are small toads measuring about long and ready to leave the pond.
The common toad reaches maturity at three to seven years.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species says the common toad is of Least Concern. This is because it lives in many areas and is common in those areas. It is not threatened very much by habitat loss. It can live in many different areas. Chytridiomycosis, an infectious disease of amphibians, has been reported in common toads in Spain and the United Kingdom. This may affect some populations.
The toad has long been thought to be an animal of ill omen or a connection to the other world. This may be because it is at home both on land and in the water. It may cause people to not like it because of its blackish, warty skin, its slow movements and the way it comes from some dark hole.
One of the earliest references to toads as being linked to the forces of darkness was when Zoroaster said in 600 BC that all toads should be killed. In Europe in the Middle Ages, the toad was associated with the Devil, whose coat-of-arms has three toads on it. It was thought that the toad could poison people. It was also thought that it was the witch's familiar and thus had magical powers. In France it was thought that witches could be found because they were marked by a toad's foot somewhere on their body. In Dorset it was believed that if one found a toad in the house it should be removed without harming it or the householder would face the wrath of the witch whose familiar it was. In some areas, the finding of a toad in a house was seen as evidence that a witch was present. The saliva of the toad was thought to be poisonous. It was believed that it could spit or vomit poisonous fire. It was thought unlucky for a toad to jump over one's foot and in some regions, this was a sign of death. Toads were associated with devils and demons and in "Paradise Lost". John Milton showed Satan as a toad when he poured poison into Eve's ear. The First Witch in Shakespeare's Macbeth gave instructions on using a toad in the making of spells:
The toad is also associated with female fecundity. Models of toads were left at shrines by women who wanted to conceive. In Romania it was believed that someone who killed a toad was able to kill their own mother. In Scottish folklore it was said that the tongue of a toad, carried by a man in his breast pocket, would let him have his way with any woman. It was also believed that there was a jewel inside a toad's head called a "toadstone". It was said that when worn as a necklace or ring would warn the wearer of attempts to poison them. Shakespeare mentioned this in "As you like it":
Touching a toad has long been thought to cause warts. This has been shown to be a myth and warts are actually caused by the human papillomavirus. They are transferred by direct contact from person to person.
Mr. Toad Esq. is one of the main characters in the children's novel, The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame. This has been dramatized by several authors including A. A. Milne who called his play Toad of Toad Hall. Mr Toad is a very conceited,anthropomorphic toad.
Pelobatidae
The European spadefoot toads are a family of frogs, the Pelobatidae. There is only one living genus, called "Pelobates". It has four species. They live in Europe, the Mediterranean, northwestern Africa and western Asia.
The European spadefoot toads are small to large sized frogs. They grow up to in length. They burrow in sandy soils. They have a hardened growth on their feet to help in digging. They will come out from the ground during times of rain and breed in pools, which are usually temporary.
All of the species from this family have free-living, aquatic tadpoles. The eggs are laid in temporary ponds that may quickly evaporate. The tadpole stage is very short. They grow to adult form in as little as two weeks. To further speed their growth, some of the tadpoles are cannibalistic, eating their brood-mates to increase their supply of protein.
Family Pelobatidae
Archaeobatrachia
Archaeobatrachia is a suborder of Anura. It has various primitive frogs and toads. As the name literally suggests, these are the most primitive frogs. Many of the species (28 in total) show certain body features which are not in other frogs and toads. They are mostly found in Eurasia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Borneo.
In addition, the family Ascaphidae is found in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. They are only represented by two species.
Mesobatrachia
Mesobatrachia is the second largest of the Anura suborders of amphibians. It has 6 families, 20 genera and 168 species. The name suggests they are moderately old.
Mesobatrachia are a newer group. They were identified in 1993.
Tony Scott
Anthony David "Tony" Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was a British movie director. He was the younger brother of movie director Ridley Scott.
Scott was born in North Shields, the son of Elizabeth and Colonel Francis Percy Scott. Scott was educated at the Royal College of Art and at the University of Sunderland.
His movies include "The Hunger", "Top Gun", "Beverly Hills Cop II", "The Last Boy Scout", "True Romance", "Crimson Tide", "Enemy of the State", "Spy Game", "Man on Fire", "Déjà Vu", "The Taking of Pelham 123" and "Unstoppable". In 2010, the Scott brothers produced "The A-Team" of the television series. Scott's film, "Unstoppable", again starring Washington (with Chris Pine), the movie was released in November 2010.
Scott was married to Gerry Scott from 1967 until they divorced 1974. Second he married 1986 until they divorced in 1987. Lastly he married Donna W. Scott from 1994 until his death in 2012. He had 2 children.