Mexican burrowing toad

Mexican burrowing toad
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Rhinophrynidae
Genus: Rhinophrynus
A. M. C. Duméril & Bibron, 1841
Species:
R. dorsalis
Binomial name
Rhinophrynus dorsalis
Distribution of R. dorsalis (in black)

The Mexican burrowing toad (Rhinophrynus dorsalis) is the single living representative of the family Rhinophrynidae.[2] It is a unique species in its taxonomy and morphology, with special adaptations to assist them in digging burrows where they spend most of their time. These adaptations include a small pointed snout and face, keratinized structures and a lack of webbing on front limbs, and specialized tongue morphology to assist in feeding on ants and termites underground.[3] The body is nearly equal in width and length. It is a dark brown to black color with a red-orange stripe on its back along with splotches of color on its body. The generic name Rhinophrynus means 'nose-toad', from rhino- (ῥῑνο-), the combining form of the Ancient Greek rhis (ῥίς, 'nose') and phrunē (φρύνη, 'toad').[4]

The Mexican burrowing toad diverged from other amphibians over 190 million years ago and has been evolving independently for a longer period of time than the evolutionary differences between mammals like humans, fruit bats, polar bears and killer whales.[5] Its closest sister group is Pipidae, or the aquatic clawed frogs.

  1. ^ IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2020). "Rhinophrynus dorsalis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T59040A53972326. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T59040A53972326.en. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Rhinophrynidae Günther, 1858 | Amphibian Species of the World". amphibiansoftheworld.amnh.org.
  3. ^ "AmphibiaWeb - Rhinophrynidae". amphibiaweb.org.
  4. ^ Dodd, C. Kenneth (2013). Frogs of the United States and Canada. Vol. 1. The Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-4214-0633-6.
  5. ^ "EDGE: Amphibian Species Information". Archived from the original on 2009-08-03. Retrieved 2008-08-25.