Rhinella icterica - Yellow Cururu Toad (Spix, 1824)

In a Dreamland, Let us Fly Beyond our Dreams, Fall Into Reverie

Description: The name "cururu" is an indigenous name that refers to the sound of the mating call of the males. They belong in the class Amphibia, subclass Lissamphibia, superorder Batrachia, order Anura suborder Neobatrachia, superfamily Bufonoidea (Hyloidea???) and family Bufonidae. The subject portrayed is a female.

They are native to Northeastern Argentina (Misiones Province), Southern Brazil and Eastern Paraguay. The males usually measure around 98-166mm in length and females 110-190mm in length. Young females possess a yellow dorsum with a light midline stripe and a patterns of black markings. Males are usually of a bright greenish yellow coloring with very few black markings. They possess a white belly marbled with brown and strong cephalic crests with warted skin.

They inhabit Cerrado (savanna), tropical and subtropical forests, and pastoral plains covered in fields located on the South of South America. They can live in degraded habitats and fields. They are usually found in anthropic areas in urban and suburban habitats due to the abundance of food sources (insects attracted to the artificial lights).

Their parotoidal glands are strong and ooze bufotoxins, which composition varies among the species and are toxic steroid lactones. These toxins can be divided into two groups, which are bufadienolides (cardiac glycosides such as bufotalin and bufogenin) and tryptamine (related substances such as bufotenin). The substance sprays out of the gland when the toad is squished or disturbed, but the human cases of intoxication are very rare and treatment involves gastric decontamination and management of arrhythmias. Digoxin antidotes might have to be used.

This defensive mechanism coupled with their successful reproductory history has led them to propagate with ease. Predators tend to avoid them due to the toxin; snakes are usually killed by the strong toxin when ingesting them. Their life cycle goes from the laying of eggs, to the hatching of the tadpoles, turning into an imago and proceeding to grow into the adult. They are very ecologically important as natural biological controllers of Insects, Mollusks, small rats and many Arthropods. They are also known to prey on birds and their eggs, as can be seen in a source I provided at the end of this text. The tadpoles feed on suspended matter and on the surface of rocks and submerged plants.

The reproductive season starts from August to January in rivers and in collections of still waters such as lagoons and ponds. The males mainly vocalize during the night to call females, but can also do so during the day. In the reproductive season, the mating calls are usually vocalized near water sources. The eggs are laid in a gooey string, usually in several thousands. The tadpoles tend to stay together.

The egg string is large and are deposited at shallow water. Amphibian decline in populations can be due to general habitat alteration and loss, habitat modification from deforestation, or logging related activities and local pesticides, fertilizers and pollutants. Rhinella icterica is not endangered, although in some places they are suffering populational decline due to pollution and due to the draining of their water sources. They are also ignorantly killed by people.

You can hear their call here: amphibiaweb.org/sounds/Rhinella_icterica.mp3

PERSONAL NOTE: I handled many of these toads, including the one portrayed to keep the dogs from eating them. After the rescue, she was placed on these steps away from danger where she fell asleep. She thought I was a predator or a threat and sprayed the bufotoxin on my skin and absolutely nothing happened, which makes me believe the bufotoxin can only be absorbed by a few parts of the body such as the mucosa, open wounds and through ingestion. I've handled Rhinella icterica many times, and few were the attempts that the toad didn't spray the toxin. The spraying is not far, usually very limited and in my attempts just oozed and dripped from my hand. I never suffered any harm from handling them, even when I had semi-open wounds on the skin and the toxin was sprayed on them, perhaps not enough to enter them. This makes me think this toxin is potentially dangerous to the ingestion, absorption through the mucosa or an unfortunate event of absorption through an open wound. With this I conclude that the toxin is not dangerous to the contact with a healthy skin.

Sources:

amphibiaweb.org/species/200
br.herpeto.org/anfibios/anura/rhinella-icterica/
pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinella_icterica
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinella_icterica

Bird and egg predation by Rhinella icterica: www.researchgate.net/publication/263469197_Ornithophagy_i...

PROJECT NOAH (Português): www.projectnoah.org/spottings/1658926005

Taken in: Brasil / Santa Catarina / Benedito Novo (show map)

Taken on: September 26, 2017

Tags:

animalia

animal

animais

amphibia

amphibian

anfíbio

anfíbios

amphibians

toad

frog

sapo

lissamphibia

batrachia

anura

neobatrachia

bufonoidea

hyloidea

bufonidae

sapo cururu

yellow cururu toad

rhinella

sp.

rhinella sp

rhinella icterica

brasil

brazil

Santa Catarina

Benedito Novo

Oscar Neto

A Sprinkle of Earth

Spirit of Photography

nature

natural

natureza

naturalism

naturalismo

photonaturalism

fotonaturalismo

cururu

wild

wildlife

selvagem

vida selvagem

brown

black spotted

black spots

black

spots

spotted

manchas

pretas

manchas pretas

yellow

amarelo

green

female

fêmea

verde

white

branco

poisonous

venenoso

micro

herpetology

herpetologia

biology

biologia

brazilian

fauna

fauna brasileira

South America

América do Sul

asleep

dormindo « less

Sets appears in: • Bufonoidea • Hyloidea more » • Batrachia • Subclass: Lissamphibia • Class: Amphibia • Neobatrachia • Bufonidae • Anura - Frogs & Toads • Kingdom: Animalia - Insects won't be posted in this album « less

Groups appears in: • Brasil • Bichos more » • !FlickrSoup for Soul • Super Macro • Nature Scenes • Nature Heals the Soul • Flickr BRASIL • All things beautiful in Nature (no humans or man made objects) • *Animal Photography* • Nature and Photography • DEFENDER'S {Detailed nature} macro and close up. • PHOTO NOW • Nature...Anything Goes • Beautiful Mother Nature • ♥ANIMALS ♥ • ~*Nature Pics That *WoW* Us*~ • nature's composition • *Nature Pics* • ***SCREAM OF THE PHOTOGRAPHER*** • ***Flickr Global • ** NATURE'S Photos ** • Nature's Art Underfoot • The passion of herpetology (reptiles and amphibians) • Macro & Close up Photography • Herpeto em Foco • Macro in nature • * Wonderful World of Wildlife * • Nature Fine Pictures Gallery • Nature and all that is beautiful • Insects, Spiders, Frogs, Snails and Slugs • Worldwide Fauna • Nature and Animals (Wild Only) • Colours of Flickr • * THANK YOU FOR SHARING... (please award favorites) • !* Lovely Mother Earth Ⅱ -Ⓕriends Ⓕine Ⓐrt✾ re-founded • Tiergesichter / Animal Faces • The best photographs from around the world. « less

Camera: Nikon D7000, f/5.6, 1/30 sec, 105mm (=157mm), ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D7000
Lens:	18.0-105.0 mm f/3.5-5.6
Aperture:	f/5.6
Exposure Time:	0.033 sec (1/30)
Focal Length:	105mm (35mm equivalent: 157mm)
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Center-weighted average
White Balance:	Auto
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 7.1 (Windows)
Show full info

Stats: 4,913 views

go back

Link to this photo view:
Link to this photo large view: