Costa Rican toads

[pez]

Here I am, sitting in the middle of my room in Liberia, incredibly bored, waiting anxiosly for tomorrow`s soccer final and for the first of two frog hunts I will make this week. But I have decided to make summaries of my country`s different amphibian species. Obviously I will make them one by one but today I have decided to begin with toads. I will make one for tree frogs, other for true frogs, other for dart frogs, and other for leptodactylids. Oh, and I was forgetting glass frogs. I know you can go to amphibiaweb and search for this frogs but my purpose is to introduce you to some new species, you might not search for.

There are 14 toad species in Costa Rica, this go from the colorful Atelopus varius to the omnipresent Rhinella marina. Toads can be easilly distinguished from other amphibians because most of them have a warty skin, parotoid glands, and bony crests on the head. Although there are some exceptions like the Rhaebo haemetiticus. The parotoid glands produce a white secretion extremely toxic that the toad uses as defence. In my country some people believe that the toads are able to thow that "milk" directly to your face, as if it was thrown with a water gun, but this is not true. Toads only produce the "milk" when they are under a great stress, and aren´t able to throw it. Costa Rican toads lay there eggs in long lines in the water instead of the characteristic clutches that frogs lay.


Species description.


Atelopus varius
This toad is extremely variable in color but is unmistakable because of its long triangular head, small poison glands all around the body and its gait. Males can reach a size of 35 mm and females reach 40-45 mm. Females also have a longer snout and a more slender body. This toad lives exclusively in Costa Rica and Panama between the heights of 1200 and 2000 m. Their color can vary from a yellow, orande or lime green background with black blotches. Although there can also be present a red coloration and some old individuals become completely black. The belly is normally light yellow. This toads are found during the day near fast moving streams or near a cascade. This toads avoid dehydration because there are near the spray the cascade forms or they stand on wet rocks. Tadpoles have a suction cup that allows them to be in a fast moving stream without being washed away by the current.

Incilius valliceps
This specie is also known as the gulf coast toad. Males reach a size of 76 mm while females reach 84 mm. This toads have a single row of warts that runs from the parotoid gland to the groin. There parotoid gland is about the same size as the eye. Their color can range from brown to light brown and reddish brown and they ussually have dark triangles or dark spots on their back. Normally a light vertebral stripe is present. This toad inhabits the southern United States, central america and northwestern Costa Rica. It normally lives in dry forest areas.

Incilius coniferus
This is a medium sized (males reach 72 mm and females 94 mm.) toad. This toad has the peculiarity that it can climb unlike most toads. It is called green climbing toad for something. This species has two rows of warts (one on each side) that go from the triangular shaped parotoid gland to the hind limbs. I. coniferus also has webbing between the outer three toes. This toads have a wide range of colors, they can be green, brown, yellow or even red. As in most other toads, juveniles have a brighter coloration than adults. It can be found from Costa Rica to Ecuador being found at a maximum height of 1300 m. This toad, as mentioned before, can climb. It does so by making a "claw" with their fingers, and making use of their long legs. Tadpoles of this species complete a very fast metamorphosis.

Rhaebo haemetiticus
This is my favorite toad, not only because it was my first frog kept as a pet, but also because of its incredible camouflage resembling a dead leaf on the forest floor. This toads lack the classic warty skin but have the parotoid glands. R. haemetiticus color is normally a dark brown with one or two dark blotches that resemble holes on a dead leaf. It also normally has a light vertebral line. This toads have a dark facial mask, helping them in there camouflage even more. This frogs reproduce at the end of the dry season on the remaining water poodles.


Rhinella marina
This is the biggest anuran in Costa Rica. Biggest females get to reach 230 mm but normally males and females range between 85-150 mm. Their back is covered with warts and sexualy active males have a spine on top of each wart. R. marina parotoid gland is extremely large. This toad normally has a brown or olive color although some individual may have a reddish or yellowish color. It is found in Central and South America but it was introduced in Australia and other isles to control a beetle but it is now considered a pest in those places. It can be found either in the beach (believe me, I have found some of this at 60 meters from the shore) or in the forest up to a height of 1 600 m. Carolus Linnaeus named it Bufo marinus because he believed it also lived in the sea. R. marina females can lay up to 25 000 eggs in shallow ponds or even slow moving streams.




Tomorrow I will post about I. luetkenii and I. periglenes, and the bibliographies.

Note: The A. varius, I. coniferus, and I. valliceps photos don´t belong to me.

[pez]

Costa Rican toads part 2

Incilius luetkenii
Also known as the yellow toad. Males reach a size of 80-89 mm and females reach 76-107 mm. Males normally have a yellow color while females can be dark brow or dark green. Many times a light dorsal line is present. I. luetkenii are found in low heights (10-700m.)from southern Guatemala to Costa Rica. Is normally found during the night near water bodies. This toads lay between 1000-5600 eggs. Tadpoles complete the metamorphosis in about 36 days.


Incilius periglenes
]Also known as the golden toad, this species is now probably extinct. Males have a bright orange color while females have orange spots on a black background. Males reach 41-48 mm while females reach 47-54mm in length. It is (was) found in an area measuring 10 km2 in Monteverde, Puntarenas, Costa Rica. This toad breeds only during a few months, there are more males than females and females lay about 200 eggs in shallow water pools. During the rest of the year this toad normally lives underground. The last toad was observed in 1989.









Note: I. luetkenii and I. periglenes photos don´t belong to me.



Bibliography
Savage, J.M. 2002. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica. The University of Chicago Press.
Universidad de Costa Rica. s.f.. CATALOGO DE HERPETOLOGIA. Museo de Zoología, Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica. s.d.
Leenders, Twan. 2001. A Guide To Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica. Zona Tropical.
Darnis.Inbio.ac.cr
Amphibiaweb.org

[tgampper]

Thanks for the photos. Atelopus varius is absolutely spectacular.

[spencerburgo]

Here I am, sitting in the middle of my room in Liberia, incredibly bored, waiting anxiosly for tomorrow`s soccer final and for the first of two frog hunts I will make this week. But I have decided to make summaries of my country`s different amphibian species. Obviously I will make them one by one but today I have decided to begin with toads. I will make one for tree frogs, other for true frogs, other for dart frogs, and other for leptodactylids. Oh, and I was forgetting glass frogs. I know you can go to amphibiaweb and search for this frogs but my purpose is to introduce you to some new species, you might not search for.

There are 14 toad species in Costa Rica, this go from the colorful Atelopus varius to the omnipresent Rhinella marina. Toads can be easilly distinguished from other amphibians because most of them have a warty skin, parotoid glands, and bony crests on the head. Although there are some exceptions like the Rhaebo haemetiticus. The parotoid glands produce a white secretion extremely toxic that the toad uses as defence. In my country some people believe that the toads are able to thow that "milk" directly to your face, as if it was thrown with a water gun, but this is not true. Toads only produce the "milk" when they are under a great stress, and aren´t able to throw it. Costa Rican toads lay there eggs in long lines in the water instead of the characteristic clutches that frogs lay.


Species description.


Atelopus varius
This toad is extremely variable in color but is unmistakable because of its long triangular head, small poison glands all around the body and its gait. Males can reach a size of 35 mm and females reach 40-45 mm. Females also have a longer snout and a more slender body. This toad lives exclusively in Costa Rica and Panama between the heights of 1200 and 2000 m. Their color can vary from a yellow, orande or lime green background with black blotches. Although there can also be present a red coloration and some old individuals become completely black. The belly is normally light yellow. This toads are found during the day near fast moving streams or near a cascade. This toads avoid dehydration because there are near the spray the cascade forms or they stand on wet rocks. Tadpoles have a suction cup that allows them to be in a fast moving stream without being washed away by the current.

Incilius valliceps
This specie is also known as the gulf coast toad. Males reach a size of 76 mm while females reach 84 mm. This toads have a single row of warts that runs from the parotoid gland to the groin. There parotoid gland is about the same size as the eye. Their color can range from brown to light brown and reddish brown and they ussually have dark triangles or dark spots on their back. Normally a light vertebral stripe is present. This toad inhabits the southern United States, central america and northwestern Costa Rica. It normally lives in dry forest areas.

Incilius coniferus
This is a medium sized (males reach 72 mm and females 94 mm.) toad. This toad has the peculiarity that it can climb unlike most toads. It is called green climbing toad for something. This species has two rows of warts (one on each side) that go from the triangular shaped parotoid gland to the hind limbs. I. coniferus also has webbing between the outer three toes. This toads have a wide range of colors, they can be green, brown, yellow or even red. As in most other toads, juveniles have a brighter coloration than adults. It can be found from Costa Rica to Ecuador being found at a maximum height of 1300 m. This toad, as mentioned before, can climb. It does so by making a "claw" with their fingers, and making use of their long legs. Tadpoles of this species complete a very fast metamorphosis.

Rhaebo haemetiticus
This is my favorite toad, not only because it was my first frog kept as a pet, but also because of its incredible camouflage resembling a dead leaf on the forest floor. This toads lack the classic warty skin but have the parotoid glands. R. haemetiticus color is normally a dark brown with one or two dark blotches that resemble holes on a dead leaf. It also normally has a light vertebral line. This toads have a dark facial mask, helping them in there camouflage even more. This frogs reproduce at the end of the dry season on the remaining water poodles.


Rhinella marina
This is the biggest anuran in Costa Rica. Biggest females get to reach 230 mm but normally males and females range between 85-150 mm. Their back is covered with warts and sexualy active males have a spine on top of each wart. R. marina parotoid gland is extremely large. This toad normally has a brown or olive color although some individual may have a reddish or yellowish color. It is found in Central and South America but it was introduced in Australia and other isles to control a beetle but it is now considered a pest in those places. It can be found either in the beach (believe me, I have found some of this at 60 meters from the shore) or in the forest up to a height of 1 600 m. Carolus Linnaeus named it Bufo marinus because he believed it also lived in the sea. R. marina females can lay up to 25 000 eggs in shallow ponds or even slow moving streams.




Tomorrow I will post about I. luetkenii and I. periglenes, and the bibliographies.

Note: The A. varius, I. coniferus, and I. valliceps photos don´t belong to me.

hi there nice to see the different frogs and toads you have over there ive just got a couple of canes these ones originate from surinam here is a couple of pics for you,


they were very skinny when they arived but they have huge appetites and are eating really well,

cheers spencer..................

[tjtreefrog]

Rhaebo haemetiticus
This is my favorite toad, not only because it was my first frog kept as a pet, but also because of its incredible camouflage resembling a dead leaf on the forest floor. This toads lack the classic warty skin but have the parotoid glands. R. haemetiticus color is normally a dark brown with one or two dark blotches that resemble holes on a dead leaf. It also normally has a light vertebral line. This toads have a dark facial mask, helping them in there camouflage even more. This frogs reproduce at the end of the dry season on the remaining water poodles.

I love this toad!!

[Kurt]

Thanks for posting this. I have been a fan of Incilius luetkenii & coniferus for quite some time now, but they are just not available here. Also like Incilius periglenes and Atelopus varius, but one is extint and the other critically endangered.

[pez]

Thomas, guess what I have here.
A young Rhaebo haemetiticus!

Thanks for posting this. I have been a fan of Incilius luetkenii & coniferus for quite some time now, but they are just not available here. Also like Incilius periglenes and Atelopus varius, but one is extint and the other critically endangered.

Is sad how amphibian species are dissappearing.

[tjtreefrog]

Thomas, guess what I have here.
A young Rhaebo haemetiticus!

Pez, buddy, friend, pal, amigo,

You need to figure out how to ship those guys up here!

[pez]

you forgot mae and compa.

Its very hard to do so, You need to have some permits but is hard to get them

[tjtreefrog]

you forgot mae and compa.

Its very hard to do so, You need to have some permits but is hard to get them

Dang, road trip time!!

[Kurt]

Oh good that way you can be arrested when you try to sneak them out of Costa Rica. Lots of luck.

[jkooiman]

Thanks very much for this post! Bufo's are my first love. I'm still having a helluva time wrapping my head around the new taxonomy of toads in the New world. Can anyone on here give me a very basic rundown on this modern taxonomy? For example why is (Bufo) Rhinella marinus, but (Bufo) valliceps not a Rhinella? Thanks! JVK

[Deku]

Oh good that way you can be arrested when you try to sneak them out of Costa Rica. Lots of luck.

I say stuff em in their pockets and run! Run like the wind! If anyone asks tell them you thought it was just a pretty leaf! (kidding about the whole thing lol)

[Deku]

Thanks very much for this post! Bufo's are my first love. I'm still having a helluva time wrapping my head around the new taxonomy of toads in the New world. Can anyone on here give me a very basic rundown on this modern taxonomy? For example why is (Bufo) Rhinella marinus, but (Bufo) valliceps not a Rhinella? Thanks! JVK

Don't worry bud! I have the same issue. Once I finally learnt alot of the old names for some animals. Turns out its outdated and a new name kicks in. I'm too lazy to learn the new names so I go by the old names. Pretty sure people will understand if you still use bufo. Not sure though.

[tjtreefrog]

I say stuff em in their pockets and run! Run like the wind! If anyone asks tell them you thought it was just a pretty leaf! (kidding about the whole thing lol)

Lol, I like your idea. I'll make sure when they arrest me that the know my name is Kurt Kunze with the New England Herpetological Society.

[Deku]

Lol, I like your idea. I'll make sure when they arrest me that the know my name is Kurt Kunze with the New England Herpetological Society.

You should also wear a mask to look like kurts face. Then while they take you in the car. Break free and hijack the car. While doing so you lower the windows and insult the cops as well as taunt them with body signals. While you're at it you may as well smuggle people out of the country as well. I'm sure they will love you for it. lulz.
P.s. while you're at it you may as well go to the police station and graffiti all over the walls saying KURT KUNZE OWNZ U BOYZ! (sorry this is just too funny).