|
|
Family: Bufonidae
Southern Rough-gland Toad, more...Southern Rough-gland Toad, Southern Roundgland Toad, Southern Roundgland Toad (es: Sapo Chichito)
[Bufo coccifer Cope, 1866] |
Diagnostic description: The background color of the dorsal part is yellow to dark brown. Lacks a well-defined lateral and differentiated from the other side warts warts series. With an eye posterior or anterior to the armpit level just parotid gland. Parotid gland is moderate size or slightly larger than the area of the upper eyelid. They have a clear dorsal longitudinal narrow line. Have eardrum. The standard length of adult males is 45 to 65 mm, females 53-82 mm. No conspicuous tarsal tubercle present. Complete lack fingers membranes. The interiors are well developed fingers. It lacks the tarsal fold. The subarticular tubercles are defined. The first finger has a length equal to or greater than the second. The toes webbed only at their bases. Supernumerary tubercles of the hands and feet are high and pointed. The series of enlarged side tubers, if any, lack elongate spines. Habitat: Although they are located in forested habitats (tropical dry forest), are more common in areas of grassland and crops. Reproduction: It breeds in temporary or permanent standing water puddles. In a study in Cañas, Guanacaste, this species breeds during the rainy season from May to August. The couples in amplexus are more common between mid-May to mid-June. No couple was observed in late June or July, but some were seen in August. The decrease in the reproductive activity during this period may be a reflection of the reduction in the rain or the indicator may be a recovery period in which females laying eggs run another. Males sing more actively between 8:30 and 11 pm. Singing males were located at the periphery of areas with shallow water, ponds and less frequently in large ponds. They call from open water or dense weed growth. The amplexus is axillary. The female carries the male to where will lay eggs, usually in shallow water 5 to 15 cm. The clutch size is 3755 eggs. It is estimated that in a metamorphosis occurs 33 days. Behavior: They are nocturnal. Relationships: They are preyed upon by snakes as Leptodeira annulata , which like other predators are attracted possibly by the songs of males. Distribution in Costa Rica: In the lower and middle northwest and central Pacific slope, East and West Central Valley land, 4 to 1,430 m. Lift (Savage, 2002). Distribution outside Costa Rica: They are from Michoacán to the east and south to Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas (Mexico) and on the Pacific side, south and west of Panama. |