The Asiatic toad or Chusan Island toad (''Bufo gargarizans'') is a species of
toad endemic to
East Asia. The species was previously classified as ''Bufo bufo gargarizans'', a subspecies of the
common toad.
Distribution and habitat
It is common in China (specifically
Anhui,
Fujian,
Gansu
Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province.
The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...
,
Guizhou,
Hebei,
Heilongjiang,
Henan,
Hubei,
Hunan,
Inner Mongolia,
Jiangsu,
Jiangxi,
Jilin,
Qinghai,
Shaanxi,
Shandong
Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region.
Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...
,
Shanxi
Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...
,
Sichuan, and
Zhejiang) and portions of the
Russian Far East (up north to the
Amur River
The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...
valley and on
Sakhalin Island
Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...
, and east to
Transbaikalia in
Siberia), but relatively rare on the
Korean Peninsula. Asiatic toads are also found on the
Miyako Islands of southern Japan, although they have been extirpated from some islands in recent years, possibly including
Okinawa. The Miyako
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
, ''
Bufo gargarizans miyakonis
The Miyako toad (''Bufo gargarizans miyakonis'') is a subspecies of the Asiatic toad that is Native species, native to the Miyako Islands, in the Ryukyu Islands, Ryūkyū Islands of Japan.
Taxonomy
In 1927, Japanese zoologist Yaichirō Okada, Oka ...
'', is also known as the
Miyako toad.
The Asiatic toad avoids dense forests, but is found in most other
habitats, including grasslands, open forests, meadows, and cultivated areas. It prefers humid areas, and is seldom found at altitudes of more than 800 meters.
Relationship with humans
The Asiatic toad plays an important role in
traditional Oriental medicine. An extract of the toxins secreted by the toad, known as
toad venom
Bufotoxins are a family of toxic steroid lactones or substituted Substituted tryptamine, 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, an ...
or ''chan-su'', has long been touted for its medicinal properties. In addition, dried toad skins have been prescribed as remedies for
dropsy and other ailments. More recently, Western medical science has also taken an interest in the toad. In 1998, an
antimicrobial peptide was extracted from the toad, and patented.
Gallery
Image:Toad_and_Frog.jpg, A full-grown male Asiatic toad housed with a captive mature female American bullfrog '' Rana catesbeiana''
Image:Bufo gargarizans.jpg, ''Bufo gargarizans'' in a garden in Liaoning Province, China
Image:Bufo gargarizans dorsal sitting.jpg
Image:Bufo gargarizans walking.jpg
Image:Bufo gargarizans frontal.jpg
File:Asiatic toad 2.jpg
See also
*
Bufotoxins
* ''
Dobrovirus bufonis''
*
Jin Chan
*
List of amphibians of Korea
This is a list of amphibian species found in the wild in Korea, including the Korean Peninsula and Jeju Island. A total of 20 species of amphibians are known from Korea; this includes two species of salamander that were not discovered until the 2 ...
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1205117
Bufo
Amphibians of China
Amphibians of Japan
Amphibians of Korea
Amphibians of Russia
Amphibians described in 1842