Science Source Stock Photo - Pelado Mountains False Toad Tadpole

Pelado Mountains False Toad Tadpole

Description: Night hiking along mountain streams can be rewarding. The splash zones of waterfalls and streamside vegetation are often great places for wildlife encounters. In the coastal mountain range in southern Chile, a reclusive and poorly understood species inhabits the humid southern Beach forests. Night hikes along the streams that drain the mountainous habitat allowed us to encounter the Pelado Mountains False Toad, Telmatobufo australis. The closest living relatives to T. australis and the several other frogs of the family Calyptocephalellidae are a group of frogs in Australia. The lineage is ancient, perhaps with origins dating back to Gondwana. All of the False Toads have what is known as a torrent adapted tadpole. The bodies of the tadpoles are flattened out and the mouth is a suctorial disc?think of a giant suction cup. The mouth parts are specialized for rasping algae from the surface of smooth river rock. The tadpoles are strong swimmers. In contemporary times, the family is struggling with serious conservation problems facing them.

Credit:

Danté Fenolio/Science Source

Unique identifier: SS2713326

Legacy Identifier: JC8249

Type: Image

Size: 6000px × 4000px (~68 MB)

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