It wasn’t all that hard—especially compared to those infernal nightjars. Here’s the frog (or toad), conveniently marked with an arrow by reader Amy, who took the picture:
Did you spot the frog?
September 2, 2015 • 2:15 pm
Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
If I’m being honest, I don’t think I’d ever have seen it w/o benefit of the arrow.
I can’t really tell, but it doesn’t look too large.
I am plagued by an invasive species known colloquially as the Cane Toad or Bufo Toad (Bufo marinus) They, along with a horde of non-native anoles from Cuba, I suspect are the reason why I rarely ever see blue skinks anymore.
Assuming they’re the same cane toads that get in the sugar cane fields ih Australia, they’re horrible things. I’ve never even seen one in real life, but I still don’t like them!
They may well be the same species. They were imported to South Florida to control grubs in the sugarcane fields south of the Everglades, but they’re such skilled and voracious predators that native some species of amphibians/reptiles are failing to compete. This is, BTW, just one of the many ways in which those sugarcane fields are an ecological and economic disaster, but I digress.
Yes, the Florida and Australian toads are the same species. They’re native to the American mainland from south Texas down to about northern Argentina. While introduced species often have negative consequences, as individuals these toads are lovely, and I’ve had a large adult female as a pet for 16 years. She’s not as smart as a lizard, but not as dumb as a goldfish.
Ribbit
Yes! I saw the frog; it jumped out on me.
Are you sure there’s no nightjar?
There might as well be 10 nightjars. I still can’t see a frog, even with the arrow!
The anuran in the picture is a toad (not a frog). Hard to tell which species, but might be able to narrow it down some if I knew where the picture was taken.