Cane Toad

== Description ==
The cane toad (Rhinella marina ), also known as the giant neotropical toad or marine toad, is a large, terrestrial true toad native to South and mainland Central America, but which has been introduced to various islands throughout Oceania and the Caribbean, as well as Northern Australia. It is a member of the genus Rhinella, which includes many true toad species found throughout Central and South America, but it was formerly assigned to the genus Bufo.
== Appearance ==
Cane Toads have a grey olive brown dorsal skin with many warts ending in dark brown caps. The ventral skin tends to be a whitish yellow with dark brown speckles or mottles and is granular. Cane Toads possess huge paratoid glands stretching from the anterior side of the tympanum to halfway down the back. A high bony ridge meets at the snout between the nostrils. Cane Toads, like other nocturnal species, has horizontal pupils. Cane Toads can reach a maximum length of 238 millimeters, although generally is approximately 150 to 175 millimeters.
== Distribution ==
The cane toad is native to the Americas, and its range stretches from the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas to the central Amazon and southeastern Peru, and some of the continental islands near Venezuela (such as Trinidad and Tobago). This area encompasses both tropical and semiarid environments. The density of the cane toad is significantly lower within its native distribution than in places where it has been introduced. In South America, the density was recorded to be 20 adults per 100 m (109 yd) of shoreline, 1 to 2% of the density in Australia.
== Lifestyle ==
The cane toad sits in an upright position when it moves, it hops in short fast hops. During cold or dry seasons it will remain inactive in shallow excavations beneath ground cover. When confronted by a predator, it is able to secrete bufotoxin from the paratoid and other glands on the back in the form of white viscous fluid. This toxic fluid is largely comprised of cardioactive substances. If a predator ingests these toxins, or they contact mucous membranes, they may cause profuse salivation, twitching, vomiting; shallow breathing and collapse of the hind limbs. This toxin can cause temporary paralysis or even death in some predators, including dogs.
== Diet ==
Most frogs identify prey by movement, and vision appears to be the primary method by which the cane toad detects prey; however, it can also locate food using its sense of smell. They eat a wide range of material; in addition to the normal prey of small rodents, other small mammals, reptiles, other amphibians, birds, and even bats and a range of invertebrates (such as ants, beetles, earwigs, dragonflies, grasshoppers, true bugs, crustaceans, and gastropods), they also eat plants, dog food, cat food, feces, and household refuse.
== Reproduction ==
Males congregate in temporary or permanent still or slow moving water and call for mates. More than one male may fertilize the eggs of a single female, and a particularly successful males may fertilize the eggs of multiple females in a breeding season. Cane Toads are able to reproduce nearly year round. The females are able to lay eggs after their second year. Eggs are laid in long jelly-like strings on rocks, debris, or emergent vegetation; in excess of 30,000 eggs at a time. The eggs hatch in 2 to 7 days.
== Gallery ==
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== Main References ==
https://animalia.bio/cane-toad
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Rhinella_marina/
Category:Animals
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