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Unkenreflex
Unkenreflex – interchangeably referred to as unken reflex (''Unke'' is the German word for the genus of fire-bellied toads) – is a defensive posture adopted by several branches of the amphibian class – including salamanders, toads, and certain species of frogs. Implemented most often in the face of an imminent attack by a predator, unkenreflex is characterized by the subject’s contortion or arching of its body to reveal previously hidden bright colors of the ventral side, tail, or inner limb; the subject remains immobile while in unkenreflex. During the course of unkenreflex, the amphibian in question releases bufotoxins from its parotid glands, tenses its entire body, and swallows air to bloat itself in an attempt to look larger. These secretions, along with the aposematic coloring common among the amphibians which display unkenreflex, serve as a warning to nearby predators that the amphibian may be poisonous. Not all amphibians which display unkenreflexes possess apos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fire-bellied Toad
fire-bellied toads are a group of six species of small frogs (most species typically no longer than ) belonging to the genus ''Bombina''. The name "fire-bellied" is derived from the brightly colored red- or yellow-and-black patterns on the toads' ventral regions, which act as aposematic coloration, a warning to predators of the toads' reputedly foul taste. The other parts of the toads' skins are green or dark brown. When confronted with a potential predator, these toads commonly engage in an Unkenreflex, "Unken-" being the combining form of "Unke", German for fire-bellied toad. In the Unkenreflex, the toad arches its back, raising its front and back legs to display the aposematic coloration of its ventral side. Species The currently recognized species are: Biology The female of the species typically lays 80–300 eggs that can be found hanging off plant stems. The offspring develop in pools or puddles. Their metamorphosis is complete within a few weeks, peaking in July– ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aposematism
Aposematism is the advertising by an animal to potential predators that it is not worth attacking or eating. This unprofitability may consist of any defences which make the prey difficult to kill and eat, such as toxicity, venom, foul taste or smell, sharp spines, or aggressive nature. These advertising signals may take the form of conspicuous coloration, sounds, odours, or other perceivable characteristics. Aposematic signals are beneficial for both predator and prey, since both avoid potential harm. The term was coined in 1877 by Edward Bagnall Poulton for Alfred Russel Wallace's concept of warning coloration. Aposematism is exploited in Müllerian mimicry, where species with strong defences evolve to resemble one another. By mimicking similarly coloured species, the warning signal to predators is shared, causing them to learn more quickly at less of a cost. A genuine aposematic signal that a species actually possesses chemical or physical defences is not the only way t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uperoleia Fusca Orange
''Uperoleia'' is a genus of frogs in the family Myobatrachidae. They are native to northern and eastern Australia and southern lowlands of New Guinea. These are small squat frogs, more commonly known as "toadlets". They have glandular skin, often with a pair of raised glands behind each eye, or on the flanks. They have bumpy, rough skin giving them the appearance of a small toad, hence the name "toadlet", although they are often called "gungans" in Queensland. There are two distinct types of calls—''Uperoleia'' species make either a "click" or a "squelch". Generally, the "clicking" ''Uperoleia'' have long thin inguinal glands that run along the dorsal surface, while the "squelching" ''Uperoleia'' have round inguinal glands restricted to the posterior half of the dorsal surface. It is unusual to find more than one species of "clickers" or "squelchers" in the same location, although finding one of each is quite frequent in northern Australia. The species in this genus show great s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphibian
Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arboreal or freshwater aquatic ecosystems. Thus amphibians typically start out as larvae living in water, but some species have developed behavioural adaptations to bypass this. The young generally undergo metamorphosis from larva with gills to an adult air-breathing form with lungs. Amphibians use their skin as a secondary respiratory surface and some small terrestrial salamanders and frogs lack lungs and rely entirely on their skin. They are superficially similar to reptiles like lizards but, along with mammals and birds, reptiles are amniotes and do not require water bodies in which to breed. With their complex reproductive needs and permeable skins, amphibians are often ecological indicators; in recent decades there has been a dramatic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salamanders
Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All ten extant salamander families are grouped together under the order Urodela. Salamander diversity is highest in eastern North America, especially in the Appalachian Mountains; most species are found in the Holarctic realm, with some species present in the Neotropical realm. Salamanders rarely have more than four toes on their front legs and five on their rear legs, but some species have fewer digits and others lack hind limbs. Their permeable skin usually makes them reliant on habitats in or near water or other cool, damp places. Some salamander species are fully aquatic throughout their lives, some take to the water intermittently, and others are entirely terrestrial as adults. This group of amphibians is capable of regenerating lost limb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toads
Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scientific taxonomy, but is common in popular culture ( folk taxonomy), in which toads are associated with drier, rougher skin and more terrestrial habitats. List of toad families In scientific taxonomy, toads include the true toads (Bufonidae) and various other terrestrial or warty-skinned frogs. Non-bufonid "toads" can be found in the families: * Bombinatoridae (fire-bellied toads and jungle toads) * Calyptocephalellidae ( helmeted water toad and false toads) * Discoglossidae ( midwife toads) * Myobatrachidae (Australian toadlets) * Pelobatidae ( European spadefoot toad) * Rhinophrynidae ( burrowing toads) * Scaphiopodidae ( American spadefoot toads) * Microhylidae ( narrowmouth toads) Biology Usually the largest of the bumps on t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frogs
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" '' Triadobatrachus'' is known from the Early Triassic of Madagascar, but molecular clock dating suggests their split from other amphibians may extend further back to the Permian, 265 million years ago. Frogs are widely distributed, ranging from the tropics to subarctic regions, but the greatest concentration of species diversity is in tropical rainforest. Frogs account for around 88% of extant amphibian species. They are also one of the five most diverse vertebrate orders. Warty frog species tend to be called toads, but the distinction between frogs and toads is informal, not from taxonomy or evolutionary history. An adult frog has a stout body, protruding eyes, anteriorly-attached tongue, limbs folded underneath, and no tail (the tail of tailed frogs is an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bufotoxin
Bufotoxins are a family of toxic steroid lactones or substituted tryptamines of which some may or may not be toxic. They occur in the parotoid glands, skin, and poison of many toads ( genus ''Bufo'') and other amphibians, and in some plants and mushrooms. The exact composition varies greatly with the specific source of the toxin. It can contain 5-MeO-DMT, bufagins, bufalin, bufotalin, bufotenin, bufothionine, dehydrobufotenine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. Some authors have also used the term ''bufotoxin'' to describe the conjugate of a bufagin with suberylarginine. The toxic substances found in toads can be divided by chemical structure in two groups: #bufadienolides, which are cardiac glycosides (e.g., bufotalin, bufogenin) # tryptamine-related substances (e.g., bufotenin) Toads known to secrete bufotoxin include the following: *'' Bufo alvarius'' *''Bufo americanus'' *''Bufo arenarum'' *''Bufo asper'' *''Bufo blombergi'' *''Bufo boreas'' *''Bufo bufo' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Long-legged Wood Frog
The long-legged wood frog (''Rana macrocnemis''), also known as Caucasus frog, Brusa frog, or Uludağ frog, is a species of frog in the family Ranidae found in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Russia, Turkey, and Turkmenistan. Its natural habitats are boreal forests, temperate forests, temperate shrubland, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, temperate grassland, rivers, intermittent rivers, swamps, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, freshwater springs, rocky areas, arable land, pastureland, plantations, rural gardens, urban areas, water storage areas, pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from ...s, and introduced vegetation. It is not considered threatened by the IUCN. References Rana (gen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Publishing
Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company, was a Racine, Wisconsin, firm responsible for publishing the Little Golden Books. Its Golden Books Family Entertainment division also produced children's books and family-related entertainment products. The company had editorial offices in New York City and Los Angeles, California. Western Publishing became Golden Books Family Entertainment in 1996. As of 2013, ''Little Golden Books'' remains as an imprint of Penguin Random House. History Early years Edward Henry Wadewitz, the 30-year-old son of German immigrants, worked at the West Side Printing Company in Racine, Wisconsin. When the owner of that company was unable to pay Wadewitz his wages, Wadewitz took the opportunity in 1907 to purchase the company for $2,504, with some of the funds provided by his brother Albert. Knowing that the company needed staff with more knowledge of the business than he had, Wadewitz hired Roy A. Spencer, a printer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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