NEWS103
32
t recently happened that the company
World Reptiles in Cologne simul-
taneouslyadded twobatrachianspecies to
their stock list that couldn’t be identified
accurately. One was a species labeled as
“
Bufo
sp.-BlackChacoToad fromParaguay”,
and the other as “
Rana
spec. - Green-Red
Aquatic Frog from Guyana”. No question
but that yourNews editor shouldget busy
and findoutmore.
I
Maleof theBlackChacoToad.
TheBlackChacoToad,
Bufo
(
Rhinella
)major, female.
All Photos:FrankSchäfer
What couldbenicer for thepassionatevivariumkeeper thananunknown
nameon a stock list?And if even the importers – specialists in their field,
after all – don’t knowpreciselywhat it is, then thatmakes it all themore
exciting .....
New frogs from
SouthAmerica
byFrankSchäfer
TheBlackChacoToad
Bufo
(
Rhinella
)major
The toads proved to be quite breathtaking
creatures around 5-6 cm in length, which
looked black only at first glance. On closer
examination they turnedout tobeextremely
attractively patterned amphibians. In
particular the black, tattoo-like ring around
the eye looked very decorative and
somewhat reminiscent of its Asian cousin
Bufo (
Duttaphrynus
)melanostictus.
The South American toads (
Rhinella
) are
very species rich, with 86 species known.
This group (which I will treat here
conservatively as a subgenus of
Bufo
, as
the current systematic situation, which
relies primarily on comparative DNA
study, is very confused and unclear) also
contains the Cane Toad,
Bufo
(
Rhinella
)
marinus, which has been introduced in
large parts of the world to control pests
and become a serious threat to native
fauna,aboveall inAustralia.
Frösche
