Answer:
1) very large animals, with dark or gray color, absence of dorsal warts, crests bordering their eyes, well-developed parotids which produce toxins. Omnivorous, use their poison for defense, catch their prey using their tongues.
2) Invasive species that cause the reduction of native natural predators populations and other species that they feed on. Alter the natural ecosystemic equilibrium.
Explanation:
The bufo toad belongs to the Bufonidae family, sharing the taxonomic groups with many other species.
It is native to Central America and the north of South America.
For many reasons, it has been introduced in different regions where it became a significant invasive species.
<u>Physical or behavioral characteristics</u>
- Color: Their body is dark brown or gray in the dorsal region. The ventral area has spots of lighter color.
- Warts: This animal presents warts on the back but not in the dorsal head. It has a crest bordering each of the eyes.
- Glands: The species have very well-developed parotids in a triangular shape. This characteristic is significant in the species because these glands produce toxins that are used to defend themselves from predators.
- Size: They are large animals. They can easily be 20 cm in length, and they can weigh more than a kilogram.
- Lifetime: 10 to 15 years.
- Habits: Nocturnal species. During the daytime, they hide. They are omnivore species, feeding on any kind of things, going from other animal species to invertebrates and vegetables. In urban areas, they might even feed on dogs food or human food wastes. They use their tongues to catch their prey, making a fast movement to impulse the organ where the food is getting stick.
Ecosystem
Because of their high adaptative capability to different environments, their significant reproductive rate -leaving abundant offspring-, and the toxins produced in their parotids, they have become an <u>invasive species.</u>
Their poison is very dangerous and painful, causing irritation of the skin and mucose, and many times, causing blindness.
Predators get in contact with this toxin and get poisoned to death. Many native predators have suffered a reduction in their population size due to the effects of the Bufo toad.
Also, as they are omnivorous, they severely prey on other species, affecting the ecosystemic equilibrium and driving many native species to extinction.
It has also been described as an infectious disease transmitter.
