Ugly toad, isn't it? It is probably coming in with the ballast from ships docking in Madagascar.
Import Trading partners (click here) include China ($654M), France($243M), India ($190M), South Africa ($165M) and the United Arab Emirates ($163M).
June 6, 2018
By Mindy Weisberger
Talk about toxic relationships. (click here) An invasive species of toad in Madagascar is even more dangerous to local wildlife than previously suspected — its poisonous slime is deadly to just about any local predator, including endangered lemurs, that tries to eat the amphibian.
The Asian common toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus) is a newcomer to the island of Madagascar, and in just a few years it has spread rapidly. Invasive species upset the balance of local diversity and can cause big problems for native animals, but scientists recently learned that the runaway success of the toad could have even more troubling consequences than thought.
In the evolutionary arms race of predator versus prey, animals that habitually eat toxic creatures often evolve resistance to their poison, in the form of genetic mutations....
Import Trading partners (click here) include China ($654M), France($243M), India ($190M), South Africa ($165M) and the United Arab Emirates ($163M).
There is an international understanding that ships are to unload their ballast water out of port so critters living in it do not create an issue of invasive species into a country.
Australia had or may still have a problem with a species of toad called "Cane Toads." They were toxic, but, they reproduced so quickly, the sheer numbers forced other species out of their habitat to find new food sources. The Cane Toads became regional issue in Queensland.
Finally, a scientist who studied their biology found that the tadpoles could be lured into the toxin that the adults produced. It killed that generation of toads while still tadpoles. Perhaps a similar solution can be applied with the Asian Common Toad in Madagascar.
Science 15 Jun 2012:,Vol. 336, Issue 6087, pp. 1375-1377
By Sarah Zielinski
...Herpetologist Rick Shine of Australian National University (click here) knew the toads would likely eradicate many of the animals he had studied for decades, so he reluctantly turned his attention to the unwelcome guest. Less than a decade later, Shine's research has paid off, with dozens of findings covering basic toad biology and how the toads interact with Australia's native fauna, and even the discovery of a potentially new mechanism of evolution. But Shine's biggest breakthrough may be a recently devised strategy to turn the toad's own toxins against the invader.
June 6, 2018By Mindy Weisberger
Talk about toxic relationships. (click here) An invasive species of toad in Madagascar is even more dangerous to local wildlife than previously suspected — its poisonous slime is deadly to just about any local predator, including endangered lemurs, that tries to eat the amphibian.
The Asian common toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus) is a newcomer to the island of Madagascar, and in just a few years it has spread rapidly. Invasive species upset the balance of local diversity and can cause big problems for native animals, but scientists recently learned that the runaway success of the toad could have even more troubling consequences than thought.
In the evolutionary arms race of predator versus prey, animals that habitually eat toxic creatures often evolve resistance to their poison, in the form of genetic mutations....
