Crucifix toad
Catholics frog ( Notaden bennettii ) fluffed males
The Catholics frog ( Notaden bennettii ) is an indigenous to eastern Australia Froschlurch and is part of the comprehensive four types genus Notaden. This is expected to the family of Australian Südfrösche ( Myobatrachidae ). In some surveys but it is also classified in a family Limnodynastidae which is understood by other authors only as a subfamily within the Limnodynastinae Myobatrachidae. The trivial name is derived from a drawing pattern of the back, reminiscent of a black cross. In English ( " Catholic Frog ", " Crucifix Toad ", " Holy Cross Toad " ) is also referred to it. The most of the year spends the animal buried in the ground.
Features
It is a clumsy Froschlurch with very short legs and a little remote kurzschnauzigen head. By additionally swelling of the body when threatened, the animal sometimes seems perfectly round. The head -body length is a maximum of 55 millimeters. The staining of glandular, flachwarzigen top is yellow, olive or green, whereupon black, partly red, white and yellow spots often result in a cross-like pattern. Yellow, white and black dots are also found on the flanks. The underside is white and smooth-skinned. Between the toes of the hind feet smaller webbed exist. The hock are converted to hard tomb blades. Thus, the frogs can backwards like a corkscrew dig writhing in the soil.
Dissemination
The species is widespread in the eastern and south-eastern Australia, particularly in the states of New South Wales and southern Queensland. Geographically, there is an area in the Murray - Darling Basin, the so-called Channel Country as well as in parts of East Central Queensland region. Above all, lowlands and plains west of the Great Dividing Range are populated, a total area of about 615,000 square kilometers.
Habitat and behavior
The Catholics frog inhabits river valleys and open to wooded, partly savanna -like slopes, preferably with black soil. The most of the year he stayed buried deep in the ground where he outlasted dry phases in a very restricted metabolism ( aestivation ).
Only after heavy rains, the animals are active, come to the surface and use these periods for reproduction and foraging. It will make them active during the day as opposed to many other amphibians. The males look at shallow ponds and comment on the water surface owl -like mating calls ( " whuh -uh -uh "). A pair has found the eggs are released into the water. A female can produce 200 to 1000 eggs per year. The later hatched tadpoles are small and gray - brown to dark brown. In adaptation to the short-lived waters they carry out their development to metamorphosis into small frogs fairly quickly.
The main diet of the species consists of termites and ants.
If a frog Catholics seized by a predator and put pressure on his back skin, occurs in large quantities from a yellowish, sticky very quickly nascent secretion. Nevertheless, the animal was used by the Aborigines as a tasty food additive by honed his skin and especially the legs consumed.