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TOAD

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 1035 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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TOAD , a name commonly applied, in contradistinction to See also:

FROG

frog," to tailless batrachians of stout build, with more or less warty skin. Thus, of the two closely related discoglossid genera Bombinator and Discoglossus, the former is called a toad and the latter a frog. But the true toads are the Bufonidae, arciferous batrachians with dilated processes to the sacral vertebra and without any See also:

TEETH (O.E. Eel); plural of tooth, O.E. top)

teeth in the jaws. The type of the See also:

FAMILY

family is our See also:

COMMON

common toad, Bufo vulgaris, and See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round it cluster a large number of See also:

SPECIES

species of the same genus, and the smaller genera Eupemphix, Pseudophryne, Nectophryne, Nectes, Notaden, Myobatrachus, Rhinophrynus and Cophophryne. That the shape of the See also:

BODY

body is not a safe See also:

GUIDE (in Mid. Eng. gyde, from the Fr. guide; the earlier French form was guie, English " guy," the d was due to the Italian form guida; the ultimate origin is probably Teutonic, the word being connected with the base seen in O. Eng. witan, to know)

guide in judging of the batrachians is shown by certain species, such as Bufo See also:

JERBOA

jerboa, which in its slender See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form and extremely See also:

long limbs surpasses the typical frogs, whilst on the other See also:

hand, some true frogs (Rana), adapted to burrowing habits, are absolutely toad-like. The Bufonidae include terrestrial, burrowing, thoroughly aquatic and arboreal types; Rhinophrynus, of See also:

Mexico, may be described as an See also:

ant-eater. The genus Bufo embraces about roo species, and is represented in nearly every See also:

PART

part of the See also:

WORLD

world except the Australian region and See also:

MADAGASCAR

Madagascar. Two species are found in the See also:

BRITISH

British Isles: the common toad, Bufo vulgaris, and the natterjack, Bufo calamita. The former is found almost everywhere; the second, which differs in its shorter limbs with nearly See also:

FREE

free toes (which are so See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short that the toad never hops but proceeds in a See also:

RUNNING

running gait) and in usually possessing a See also:

PALE (through Fr. pal, from Lat. palms, a stake, for paglus, from the stem pag- of pangere, to fix; " pole " is from the same original source)

pale yellow See also:

LINE

line along the See also:

MIDDLE

middle of the back, is See also:

LOCAL

local in See also:

England, the See also:

south-See also:

west of See also:

Scotland, and the west of See also:

Ireland; it is further remarkable for the very loud croak of the See also:

MALES

males, produced by a large vocal See also:

BLADDER (from A.S. blaeddre, connected with bl¢wan, to blow, cf. Ger. blase)

bladder on the See also:

THROAT (O. Eng. protu, prote or }Prota, possibly from preotan, to press, whence threat, or, with loss of initial s, connected with strut, to swell)

throat which, when inflated, is larger than the See also:

head. Toads See also:

lay their eggs in long strings, forming See also:

double files in straight, jelly-like tubes. A small toad, Pseudophryne vivipara, recently discovered in See also:

German See also:

East See also:

Africa, has proved to be viviparous, this being the only such instance known among tailless bactrachians.

End of Article: TOAD

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