Mysterious toad

[Niels D]

I've seen toads offered as "Bufo marmorata" on the internet (couple of companies) and at a local petstore. Bufo marmorata doesn't exsist and the toads look like they belong to the Rhinella complex. They're not Bufo marmoreus or Hyla marmorata. According to most of the shops offering this so called B. marmorata, the toads should come out of Suriname. If that's so they could be Rhinella (of Bufo) humboldti or merianae. I've only seen one picture of humboldti and none of merianae. Hopefully somebody can help me identify these toads.

The picture of humboldti:
iNaturalist.org · Rhinella humboldti, observed by cesarlba on July 22, 2010

Some information about Rhinella complex:
Arquivos de Zoologia - Taxonomic revision of Rhinella granulosa species group (Amphibia, Anura, Bufonidae), with a description of a new species

Google "Bufo marmorata" to see the shops which are offering this toad and to see the pictures. (You'll also see other topics about this matter on caudata and a Dutch frogforum)

and a picture of one of my animals:

[wesleybrouwer]

As mentioned before

It's difficult to determine the exact name just by a picture.
The members of the different Bufo (Rhinella) groups are often verry much alike,
some can only be seperated by extensive DNA research.

Going by the info you provided, that they are absolutely from Suriname, the candidates from the Bufo granulosus complex are Bufo [Rhinella] granulosus humboldti and merianae.
Keep in mind, not every import from a particular country gives a guarantee that the specimens are caught there.

In my reasoning, the mix up with the name of Bufo marmorata (marmoratus) is easiest to explain by a species formerly known as Chaunus marmoratus.
This is changed into Chaunus granulosus and later on to Rhinella granulosus.
This species eventually is taken up in the complex as we know it.
The only side note is that this species originate from Brasil.
But then again, Surinam is a neigbouring country, so it won't surprise me that the Brasilian member of the complex would be shipped trough Surinam.
After all, it is a complex of possible variaties, species and/or sub-species of wich some are almost identical, so for the collectors it is sometimes impossible to seperate them from eachother.

You might try to email some researchers working with the complex daily.
In most research papers they provide you with an email adress for inquiries.
Maybe if you send the pictures to a researcher from Brasil and one from Surinam they can tell them apart just by a picture,
altough i doubt they can for sure.

[Niels D]

Haha! I thought I'll try it on this forum as well. I've allready sent an email to a research fascility, but I haven't got an answer yet. I've tried AmphibiaWeb as well for some more information about research and if they know where I can find more pictures. I've seen a lot of pictures of different kinds of Bufo granulosus species, but the humboldti is the only one that really resembles our toads. Allas I haven't seen the merianae and a couple of others, so I can't rule them out. I'll just have to wait I guess. Sigh...

[John]

Good luck in your quest.

[Niels D]

I've got a mail of a Brazilian scientist Patricia Narvaes, who wrote the article about the Rhinella granulosus complex. She is trying to identify the frog with help of the pictures I've sent. I'm very gratefull of course and I hope she can give an answer.

[Niels D]

After sending a lot of pictures I finally got my answer. It must be Rhinella/Bufo humboldti. Joy!

[Niels D]

I'm so happy with these little toads. They're just like little cane toads in every way. Every evening the little male is making noice as if his life's depending on it.

The male just after he croaked (guess it's croaking)

Male on top of another toad (guess it's a female)

[Isabel Burhop]

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