The Curious Compendium 2023: Great danes!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

More mixed amphibians!

We will not discuss the left one as they give me the heebie jeebies whenever I think about them too much... For Oriental fire-bellied toads though; unlike nearly all toads, they actually have triangular pupils!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

More mixed amphibians!



Golden toads were only recently discovered in 1964. The last wild toad was observed in 1988, and are now presumed extinct. No one knows why this extinction happed, especially so suddenly (over 1,000 individuals were seen gathered for breeding in 1987, then only one in 1988, and none from 1989 on). It may be due to fluctuations in weather those years (suspected to have thrown the isolated population and its specialty breeding grounds for a loop) or potentially due to the now well known chytrid fungus that has claimed so many other amphibian species.

[bmathison1972]

Interesting PV used their sculpt for a golden toad and Yujin later used the same sculpt for a golden mantella.

Are you sure the bold black/yellow one in the center isn't just a stylized yellow-banded poison dart frog? I am not familiar with it.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

I am unsure of anything, as I am quite unfamiliar with frogs in general. TAW has the two on the left as golden toads (at least the PV, the other is a chinamal too similar to the PV call it something else), and the two on the right are Costa Rican variable harlequin toads.

[bmathison1972]

I am unsure of anything, as I am quite unfamiliar with frogs in general. TAW has the two on the left as golden toads (at least the PV, the other is a chinamal too similar to the PV call it something else), and the two on the right are Costa Rican variable harlequin toads.

Ahhh. Sorry, I assumed all four of these were intended to be Golden Toads. You didn't mention the species present in the pic. The black-and-yellow figure by K&M is marketed as a 'clown frog' which is another common name for the 'Costa Rican variable harlequin toad', and yes they can have that color morph, too. So that ID is probably sound! I also forgot the one on the far right was the PV CRVHT, because female golden toads can have that color, too 

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Yeah, with these mixed photos I haven't been listing all the species present because some of them would have huge blurbs/as already stated I generally go off of TAW ID so if anyone is curious they can check there or ask what is present in the pic here. They will be listed on my website though! I have just been picking one species from such groups to present a factoid on. And yes, the far right frog could 100% pass as a female golden toad!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

My penultimate post for the froggos!


Cane toads! I didnt realize this; they are poisonous at ALL life stages. Eggs, tadpoles, adults; each is toxic!

[Gwangi]

I wish Safari would make a cane toad for their IC line. I had a pet one of those too once. 

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Oh wow, really? I'm assuming you had to have special handling procedures?

[Gwangi]

Oh wow, really? I'm assuming you had to have special handling procedures?

Nope, they're easy to get at reptile expos and I got one at a pet shop once. They're like any other true toad, the poison is contained within their parotid glands and unless handled roughly it stays in there. I never interacted with or even saw my toad's poisonous secretions.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Huh, that's pretty amazing. Makes sense though. Thanks for the info! And if I may ask... what was its name?

[Gwangi]

Huh, that's pretty amazing. Makes sense though. Thanks for the info! And if I may ask... what was its name?

Lunchbox 

[Saarlooswolfhound]

  Again, that's a great name.

Last day for amphibians! All that is left are the ones with no certain ID.




My last fun fact for this group will be for a long extinct example. Elginerpeton is currently the oldest known amphibian; it was found in Scotland in rock that dates to abkut 368 MILLION years ago!

[sbell]

The sad part is your amphibians are ending with no caecillians...there just aren't that many.

https://animaltoyforum.com/blog/cool-reptiles-bucket-cog-ltd-part-2/

[Saarlooswolfhound]

I didn't even know there WERE any models of those!!! Where did you find them?

[sbell]

I didn't even know there WERE any models of those!!! Where did you find them?

Seems like decades ago in a bucket from COG. Wild Republic still uses the buckets, but not the figures unfortunately

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Aw man, well this gives me something new to hunt down anyway. Thanks for the info Sbell!

And now, a rather small group for my collection (12 portraits altogether). Another group I know less about and so... I have a question. Is the term "Chelonians" or "Testudines" better for this group of turtles, tortoises, and terrapins? When I was in school both were used and the group was explained as being rather mysterious in its provenance due to the lack of fossil evidence to explain its evolution. Any info someone can share with me is appreciated.

First up! Leatherbacks!


These guys can travel up to 10,000 miles while foraging and migrating for breeding! They can dive up to 4,000 feet deep into the ocean! And they can stay underwater for up to 85 minutes! Those are each pretty impressive feats if you ask me.

[BlueKrono]

The two are synonyms, so both are correct. The common term would be "turtle". I never use the term "Testudines" because it brings to mind Testudo, tortoises specifically. But that is just a personal preference, and I'm probably biased since I used to work for Peter Pritchard at the Chelonian Research Institute.

[bmathison1972]

Testudines is a formal order-level clade/taxon.
Chelonians is a common/vernacular term for the group.

[Isidro]

The two are synonyms, so both are correct. The common term would be "turtle". I never use the term "Testudines" because it brings to mind Testudo, tortoises specifically. But that is just a personal preference, and I'm probably biased since I used to work for Peter Pritchard at the Chelonian Research Institute.

I also never use the term "Testudines" because this is a synonym of the taxon Chelonia, that comprises all turtles. While concerning common names, "Tortoise" is the English term for those turtles in the family Testudinidae and "turtle" for all other families of turtles. In Spanish is much easier as all receive the same common name: "tortuga". ("galápago" for the freshwater aquatic species, excluding softshells, but they are also considered "tortuga")