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148-502: The cane toad ( Rhinella marina ), also known as the giant neotropical toad or marine toad , is a large, terrestrial true toad native to South and mainland Central America , but which has been introduced to various islands throughout Oceania and the Caribbean , as well as Northern Australia . It is a member of the genus Rhinella , which includes many true toad species found throughout Central and South America, but it

296-453: A "distinct preference" for areas modified by humans, such as gardens and drainage ditches. In their native habitats, the toads can be found in subtropical forests, although dense foliage tends to limit their dispersal. The cane toad begins life as an egg, which is laid as part of long strings of jelly in water. A female lays 8,000–25,000 eggs at once and the strings can stretch up to 20 m (66 ft) in length. The black eggs are covered by

444-686: A cave in Oaxaca. Earlier maize samples have been documented at the Los Ladrones cave site in Panama , c. 5500 BCE. Slightly thereafter, semi- agrarian communities began to cultivate other crops throughout Mesoamerica. Maize was the most common domesticate, but the common bean, tepary bean, scarlet runner bean, jicama , tomato and squash all became common cultivates by 3500 BCE. At the same time, these communities exploited cotton , yucca , and agave for fibers and textile materials. By 2000 BCE, corn

592-402: A complex combination of ecological systems, topographic zones, and environmental contexts. These different niches are classified into two broad categories: the lowlands (those areas between sea level and 1000 meters) and the altiplanos , or highlands (situated between 1,000 and 2,000 meters above sea level). In the low-lying regions, sub-tropical and tropical climates are most common, as

740-576: A convergence of geographic and cultural attributes. These sub-regions are more conceptual than culturally meaningful, and the demarcation of their limits is not rigid. The Maya area, for example, can be divided into two general groups: the lowlands and highlands. The lowlands are further divided into the southern and northern Maya lowlands. The southern Maya lowlands are generally regarded as encompassing northern Guatemala , southern Campeche and Quintana Roo in Mexico, and Belize . The northern lowlands cover

888-601: A cultural area, Mesoamerica is defined by a mosaic of cultural traits developed and shared by its indigenous cultures. In the pre-Columbian era , many indigenous societies flourished in Mesoamerica for more than 3,000 years before the Spanish colonization of the Americas began on Hispaniola in 1493. In world history, Mesoamerica was the site of two historical transformations: (i) primary urban generation, and (ii)

1036-443: A few groups are carnivorous. Carnivorous gastropods usually feed on other gastropod species or on weak individuals of the same species; some feed on insect larvae or earthworms. Semi-terrestrial animals are macroscopic animals that rely on very moist environments to thrive, they may be considered a transitional point between true terrestrial animals and aquatic animals. Among vertebrates, amphibians have this characteristic relying on

1184-547: A few hours of encountering low temperatures. The toad is able to rapidly acclimate to the cold using physiological plasticity, though there is also evidence that more northerly populations of cane toads in the United States are better cold-adapted than more southerly populations. These adaptations have allowed the cane toad to establish invasive populations across the world. The toad's ability to rapidly acclimate to thermal changes suggests that current models may underestimate

1332-434: A few months, they famously can enter suspended animation during dry or hostile conditions and survive for decades, which allows them to be ubiquitous in terrestrial environments despite needing water to grow and reproduce. Many microscopic crustacean groups like copepods and amphipods and seed shrimps are known to go dormant when dry and live in transient bodies of water too. This article incorporates CC-BY-2.0 text from

1480-496: A foothold in the state after an accidental release by an importer at Miami International Airport in 1957, and deliberate releases by animal dealers in 1963 and 1964 established the toad in other parts of Florida. Today, the cane toad is well established in the state, from the Keys to north of Tampa , and they are gradually extending further northward. In Florida, the toad is a regarded as a threat to native species and pets; so much so,

1628-494: A larger area in the Americas, but it has also previously been used more narrowly to refer to Mesoamerica. An example is the title of the 16 volumes of The Handbook of Middle American Indians . "Mesoamerica" is broadly defined as the area that is home to the Mesoamerican civilization, which comprises a group of peoples with close cultural and historical ties. The exact geographic extent of Mesoamerica has varied through time, as

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1776-420: A membrane and their diameter is about 1.7–2.0 mm (0.067–0.079 in). The rate at which an egg grows into a tadpole increases with temperature. Tadpoles typically hatch within 48 hours, but the period can vary from 14 hours to almost a week. This process usually involves thousands of tadpoles—which are small, black, and have short tails—forming into groups. Between 12 and 60 days are needed for

1924-511: A moist environment and breathing through their moist skin while reproducing in water. Many other animal groups solely have terrestrial animals that live like this: land planarians , land ribbon worms , roundworms (nematodes), and land annelids (clitellates) who are very primitive and breathe through skin . Clitellates or terrestrial annelids demonstrate many unique terrestrial adaptations especially in their methods of reproduction, they tend towards being simpler than their marine relatives,

2072-545: A network of trade routes for the exchange of luxury goods, such as obsidian , jade , cacao , cinnabar , Spondylus shells, hematite , and ceramics. While Mesoamerican civilization knew of the wheel and basic metallurgy , neither of these became technologically relevant. Among the earliest complex civilizations was the Olmec culture, which inhabited the Gulf Coast of Mexico and extended inland and southwards across

2220-717: A period commonly known as the Tikal Hiatus . The Late Classic period (beginning c. 600 CE until 909 CE) is characterized as a period of interregional competition and factionalization among the numerous regional polities in the Maya area. This largely resulted from the decrease in Tikal's socio-political and economic power at the beginning of the period. It was therefore during this time that other sites rose to regional prominence and were able to exert greater interregional influence, including Caracol, Copán , Palenque , and Calakmul (which

2368-876: A portion of the Sierra Madre chain is known as the Eje Volcánico Transversal , or the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt. There are 83 inactive and active volcanoes within the Sierra Madre range, including 11 in Mexico, 37 in Guatemala, 23 in El Salvador, 25 in Nicaragua, and 3 in northwestern Costa Rica. According to the Michigan Technological University, 16 of these are still active. The tallest active volcano

2516-561: A preferable alternative to traditional fins in extremely shallow water), and lungs which existed in conjunction with gills, Tiktaalik and animals like it were able to establish a strong foothold on land by the end of the Devonian period. In the Carboniferous , tetrapods (losing their gills) became fully terrestrialized, allowing their expansion into most terrestrial niches, though later on some will return to being aquatic and conquer

2664-712: A regionally important center during the Postclassic. The latter portion of the Postclassic is generally associated with the rise of the Mexica and the Aztec Empire . One of the more commonly known cultural groups in Mesoamerica, the Aztec politically dominated nearly all of central Mexico, the Gulf Coast, Mexico's southern Pacific Coast (Chiapas and into Guatemala), Oaxaca, and Guerrero . The Tarascans (also known as

2812-599: A result, 102 toads were collected from Hawaiʻi and brought to Australia. Queensland's sugar scientists released the toad into cane fields in August 1935. After this initial release, the Commonwealth Department of Health decided to ban future introductions until a study was conducted into the feeding habits of the toad. The study was completed in 1936 and the ban lifted, when large-scale releases were undertaken; by March 1937, 62,000 toadlets had been released into

2960-683: A result, many countries in the Pacific region emulated the lead of Puerto Rico and introduced the toad in the 1930s. Introduced populations are in Australia , Florida , Papua New Guinea , the Philippines , the Ogasawara , Ishigaki Island and the Daitō Islands of Japan, Taiwan Nantou Caotun , most Caribbean islands, Fiji and many other Pacific islands, including Hawaii . Since then,

3108-500: A separate species, Rhinella horribilis . In Australia, the adults may be confused with large native frogs from the genera Limnodynastes , Cyclorana , and Mixophyes . These species can be distinguished from the cane toad by the absence of large parotoid glands behind their eyes and the lack of a ridge between the nostril and the eye. Cane toads have been confused with the giant burrowing frog ( Heleioporus australiacus ), because both are large and warty in appearance; however,

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3256-484: A technological departure from previous construction techniques. Major Puuc sites include Uxmal , Sayil , Labna , Kabah , and Oxkintok . While generally concentrated within the area in and around the Puuc hills , the style has been documented as far away as at Chichen Itza to the east and Edzna to the south. Chichén Itzá was originally thought to have been a Postclassic site in the northern Maya lowlands. Research over

3404-464: A unified clade ; rather, they are a polyphyletic group that share only the fact that they live on land. The transition from an aquatic to terrestrial life by various groups of animals has occurred independently and successfully many times. Most terrestrial lineages originated under a mild or tropical climate during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic , whereas few animals became fully terrestrial during

3552-409: A wide range of material; in addition to the normal prey of small rodents , other small mammals , reptiles , other amphibians , birds , and even bats and a range of invertebrates (such as ants , beetles , earwigs , dragonflies , grasshoppers , true bugs , crustaceans , and gastropods ), they also eat plants, dog food, cat food, feces, and household refuse. The skin of the adult cane toad

3700-611: Is Popocatépetl at 5,452 m (17,887 ft). This volcano, which retains its Nahuatl name, is located 70 km (43 mi) southeast of Mexico City. Other volcanoes of note include Tacana on the Mexico–Guatemala border, Tajumulco and Santamaría in Guatemala, Izalco in El Salvador, Arenal in Costa Rica, and Concepción and Maderas on Ometepe , which is an island formed by both volcanoes rising out of Lake Cocibolca in Nicaragua. One important topographic feature

3848-475: Is a list of some of the specialized resources traded from the various Mesoamerican sub-regions and environmental contexts: Mesoamerican architecture is the collective name given to urban, ceremonial and public structures built by pre-Columbian civilizations in Mesoamerica. Although very different in styles, all kinds of Mesoamerican architecture show some kind of interrelation, due to very significant cultural exchanges that occurred during thousands of years. Among

3996-420: Is also one of only five regions of the world where writing is known to have independently developed (the others being ancient Egypt , India , Sumer , and China ). Beginning as early as 7000 BCE, the domestication of cacao , maize , beans , tomato , avocado , vanilla , squash and chili , as well as the turkey and dog , resulted in a transition from paleo-Indian hunter-gatherer tribal groupings to

4144-399: Is an early aquatic form, either a nymph or larva . There are crab species that are completely aquatic, crab species that are amphibious, and crab species that are terrestrial. Fiddler crabs are called "semi-terrestrial" since they make burrows in the muddy substrate, to which they retreat during high tides. When the tide is out, fiddler crabs search the beach for food. The same is true in

4292-631: Is another Classic-period polity that expanded and flourished during this period, but the Zapotec capital exerted less interregional influence than the other two sites. During the Early Classic, Teotihuacan participated in and perhaps dominated a far-reaching macro-regional interaction network. Architectural and artifact styles (talud-tablero, tripod slab-footed ceramic vessels) epitomized at Teotihuacan were mimicked and adopted at many distant settlements. Pachuca obsidian, whose trade and distribution

4440-453: Is argued to have been economically controlled by Teotihuacan, is found throughout Mesoamerica. Tikal came to dominate much of the southern Maya lowlands politically, economically, and militarily during the Early Classic. An exchange network centered at Tikal distributed a variety of goods and commodities throughout southeast Mesoamerica, such as obsidian imported from central Mexico (e.g., Pachuca) and highland Guatemala (e.g., El Chayal , which

4588-482: Is considered to constitute a distinct genus of its own, thus changing the scientific name of the cane toad. In this case, the specific name marinus ( masculine ) changes to marina (feminine) to conform with the rules of gender agreement as set out by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature , changing the binomial name from Bufo marinus to Rhinella marina ; the binomial Rhinella marinus

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4736-519: Is due to physiological, behavioral, and morphological adaptations to water availability, as well as ionic and thermal balance. They are adapted to most of the habitats on Earth. The shell of a snail is constructed of calcium carbonate , but even in acidic soils one can find various species of shell-less slugs. Land-snails, such as Xerocrassa seetzeni and Sphincterochila boissieri , also live in deserts, where they must contend with heat and aridity. Terrestrial gastropods are primarily herbivores and only

4884-451: Is made into leather and novelty items. Stuffed cane toads, posed and accessorised, are merchandised at souvenir shops for tourists. Attempts have been made to produce fertiliser from toad carcasses. Terrestrial animal Alternatively, terrestrial is used to describe animals that live on the ground, as opposed to arboreal animals that live in trees. The term "terrestrial" is typically applied to species that live primarily on or in

5032-453: Is marked by the rise and dominance of several polities. The traditional distinction between the Early and Late Classic is marked by their changing fortune and their ability to maintain regional primacy. Of paramount importance are Teotihuacán in central Mexico and Tikal in Guatemala; the Early Classic's temporal limits generally correlate to the main periods of these sites. Monte Albán in Oaxaca

5180-457: Is often obscure and becomes a matter of judgment. Many animals considered terrestrial have a life-cycle that is partly dependent on being in water. Penguins , seals , and walruses sleep on land and feed in the ocean, yet they are all considered terrestrial. Many insects, e.g. mosquitos , and all terrestrial crabs , as well as other clades, have an aquatic life cycle stage: their eggs need to be laid in and to hatch in water; after hatching, there

5328-705: Is one notable difference between Mesoamerica and the cultures of the South American Andes. Other animals, including the duck , dogs , and turkey , were domesticated . Turkey was the first to be domesticated locally, around 3500 BCE. Dogs were the primary source of animal protein in ancient Mesoamerica, and dog bones are common in midden deposits throughout the region. Societies of this region did hunt certain wild species for food. These animals included deer, rabbit , birds, and various types of insects. They also hunted for luxury items, such as feline fur and bird plumage. Mesoamerican cultures that lived in

5476-718: Is one of the few groups that have evolved fully terrestrial taxa during the late Cenozoic in the Japanese Archipelago only. Shifts from aquatic to terrestrial life occurred at least twice within two Japanese endemic lineages in Japanese Pomatiopsidae and it started in the Late Miocene . About one-third of gastropod species are terrestrial. In terrestrial habitats they are subjected to daily and seasonal variation in temperature and water availability. Their success in colonizing different habitats

5624-508: Is partly because of opportunistic feeding: it has a diet, unusual among anurans , of both dead and living matter. Adults average 10–15 cm (4–6 in) in length; the largest recorded specimen had a snout-vent length of 24 cm (9.4 in). The cane toad has poison glands , and the tadpoles are highly toxic to most animals if ingested. Its toxic skin can kill many animals, both wild and domesticated, and cane toads are particularly dangerous to dogs. Because of its voracious appetite,

5772-456: Is roughly 200 km (120 mi). The northern side of the Isthmus is swampy and covered in dense jungle—but the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, as the lowest and most level point within the Sierra Madre mountain chain, was nonetheless a main transportation, communication, and economic route within Mesoamerica. Outside of the northern Maya lowlands, rivers are common throughout Mesoamerica. Some of

5920-566: Is seen, followed by an average rate of 0.373 mm (0.0147 in) per day. Growth typically slows once the toads reach sexual maturity. This rapid growth is important for their survival; in the period between metamorphosis and subadulthood, the young toads lose the toxicity that protected them as eggs and tadpoles, but have yet to fully develop the parotoid glands that produce bufotoxin . Only an estimated 0.5% of cane toads reach adulthood, in part because they lack this key defense—but also due to tadpole cannibalism. Although cannibalism does occur in

6068-639: Is the Isthmus of Tehuantepec , a low plateau that breaks up the Sierra Madre chain between the Sierra Madre del Sur to the north and the Sierra Madre de Chiapas to the south. At its highest point, the Isthmus is 224 m (735 ft) above mean sea level. This area also represents the shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean in Mexico. The distance between the two coasts

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6216-651: Is the largest lake in Mesoamerica. Lake Chapala is Mexico's largest freshwater lake, but Lake Texcoco is perhaps most well known as the location upon which Tenochtitlan , capital of the Aztec Empire, was founded. Lake Petén Itzá , in northern Guatemala, is notable as where the last independent Maya city, Tayasal (or Noh Petén), held out against the Spanish until 1697. Other large lakes include Lake Atitlán , Lake Izabal , Lake Güija , Lemoa and Lake Xolotlan . Almost all ecosystems are present in Mesoamerica;

6364-564: Is toxic, as well as the enlarged parotoid glands behind the eyes, and other glands across its back. When the toad is threatened, its glands secrete a milky-white fluid known as bufotoxin . Components of bufotoxin are toxic to many animals; even human deaths have been recorded due to the consumption of cane toads. Dogs are especially prone to be poisoned by licking or biting toads. Pets showing excessive drooling, extremely red gums, head-shaking, crying, loss of coordination, and/or convulsions require immediate veterinary attention. Bufotenin , one of

6512-529: Is true for most of the coastline along the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea . The highlands show much more climatic diversity, ranging from dry tropical to cold mountainous climates ; the dominant climate is temperate with warm temperatures and moderate rainfall. The rainfall varies from the dry Oaxaca and north Yucatán to the humid southern Pacific and Caribbean lowlands. Several distinct sub-regions within Mesoamerica are defined by

6660-769: The Cenozoic . If internal parasites are excluded, free living species in terrestrial environments are represented by the following eleven phyla: Roundworms, gastrotrichs, tardigrades, rotifers and some smaller species of arthropods and annelids are microscopic animals that require a film of water to live in, and are therefore considered semi-terrestrial. Flatworms, ribbon worms, velvet worms and annelids all depend on more or less moist habitats. The three remaining phyla, arthropods, mollusks, and chordates, all contain species that have adapted totally to dry terrestrial environments, and which have no aquatic phase in their life cycles. Labeling an animal species "terrestrial" or "aquatic"

6808-630: The Cora and Huichol , the Chontales, the Huaves, and the Pipil, Xincan and Lencan peoples of Central America. Central American Area: Los Naranjos By roughly 6000 BCE, hunter-gatherers living in the highlands and lowlands of Mesoamerica began to develop agricultural practices with early cultivation of squash and chili. The earliest example of maize dates to c. 4000 BCE and comes from Guilá Naquitz ,

6956-489: The Early Devonian . Among arthropods, many microscopic crustacean groups like copepods and amphipods and seed shrimp can go dormant when dry and live in transient bodies of water. By approximately 375 million years ago the bony fish best adapted to life in shallow coastal/swampy waters (such as Tiktaalik roseae ). Thanks to relatively strong, muscular limbs (which were likely weight-bearing, thus making them

7104-532: The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recommends residents to kill them. Around 150 cane toads were introduced to Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi in 1932, and the population swelled to 105,517 after 17 months. The toads were sent to the other islands, and more than 100,000 toads were distributed by July 1934; eventually over 600,000 were transported. Other than the use as a biological control for pests ,

7252-831: The Grijalva River , the Motagua River , the Ulúa River , and the Hondo River . The northern Maya lowlands, especially the northern portion of the Yucatán peninsula, are notable for their nearly complete lack of rivers (largely due to the absolute lack of topographic variation). Additionally, no lakes exist in the northern peninsula. The main source of water in this area is aquifers that are accessed through natural surface openings called cenotes . With an area of 8,264 km (3,191 sq mi), Lake Nicaragua

7400-471: The Isthmus of Tehuantepec . Frequent contact and cultural interchange between the early Olmec and other cultures in Chiapas , Oaxaca , and Guatemala laid the basis for the Mesoamerican cultural area. All this was facilitated by considerable regional communications in ancient Mesoamerica , especially along the Pacific coast. In the subsequent Preclassic period , complex urban polities began to develop among

7548-675: The Itza at Tayasal and the Kowoj at Zacpeten , remained independent until 1697. Some Mesoamerican cultures never achieved dominant status or left impressive archaeological remains but are nevertheless noteworthy. These include the Otomi , Mixe–Zoque groups (which may or may not have been related to the Olmecs), the northern Uto-Aztecan groups, often referred to as the Chichimeca , that include

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7696-915: The Kaqchikel at Iximche in the Guatemalan highlands. The Pipil resided in El Salvador , the Nicarao were in western Nicaragua and northwestern Costa Rica , and the Ch'orti' were in eastern Guatemala and northwestern Honduras . In central Mexico, the early portion of the Postclassic correlates with the rise of the Toltec and an empire based at their capital, Tula (also known as Tollan ). Cholula , initially an important Early Classic center contemporaneous with Teotihuacan, maintained its political structure (it did not collapse) and continued to function as

7844-628: The Maya , with the rise of centers such as Aguada Fénix and Calakmul in Mexico; El Mirador , and Tikal in Guatemala, and the Zapotec at Monte Albán . During this period, the first true Mesoamerican writing systems were developed in the Epi-Olmec and the Zapotec cultures. The Mesoamerican writing tradition reached its height in the Classic Maya logosyllabic script . In Central Mexico,

7992-895: The Monte Alto Culture may have preceded the Olmec. Radiocarbon samples associated with various sculptures found at the Late Preclassic site of Izapa suggest a date of between 1800 and 1500 BCE. During the Middle and Late Preclassic period, the Maya civilization developed in the southern Maya highlands and lowlands, and at a few sites in the northern Maya lowlands. The earliest Maya sites coalesced after 1000 BCE, and include Nakbe , El Mirador , and Cerros . Middle to Late Preclassic Maya sites include Kaminaljuyú , Cival , Edzná , Cobá , Lamanai , Komchen , Dzibilchaltun , and San Bartolo , among others. The Preclassic in

8140-555: The Nahua peoples began moving south into Mesoamerica from the North, and became politically and culturally dominant in central Mexico, as they displaced speakers of Oto-Manguean languages . During the early post-Classic period, Central Mexico was dominated by the Toltec culture, and Oaxaca by the Mixtec . The lowland Maya area had important centers at Chichén Itzá and Mayapán . Towards

8288-613: The Paleozoic or Mesozoic . Gastropods are especially unique due to several fully terrestrial and epifaunal lineages that evolved during the Cenozoic . Some members of rissooidean families Truncatellidae , Assimineidae , and Pomatiopsidae are considered to have colonized to land during the Cenozoic. Most truncatellid and assimineid snails amphibiously live in intertidal and supratidal zones from brackish water to pelagic areas. Terrestrial lineages likely evolved from such ancestors. The rissooidean gastropod family Pomatiopsidae

8436-483: The Postclassic are differentiated by the cyclical crystallization and fragmentation of the various political entities throughout Mesoamerica. The Mesoamerican Paleo-Indian period precedes the advent of agriculture and is characterized by a nomadic hunting and gathering subsistence strategy. Big-game hunting, similar to that seen in contemporaneous North America, was a large component of the subsistence strategy of

8584-701: The Purépecha ) were located in Michoacán and Guerrero. With their capital at Tzintzuntzan , the Tarascan state was one of the few to actively and continuously resist Aztec domination during the Late Postclassic. Other important Postclassic cultures in Mesoamerica include the Totonac along the eastern coast (in the modern-day states of Veracruz , Puebla , and Hidalgo ). The Huastec resided north of

8732-420: The Visayan languages , a corruption of 'American frog', referring to its origins. It is also commonly known as "bullfrog" in Philippine English. The cane toad was introduced into Fiji to combat insects that infested sugarcane plantations. The introduction of the cane toad to the region was first suggested in 1933, following the successes in Puerto Rico and Hawaiʻi. After considering the possible side effects,

8880-750: The bristleworms , lacking many of the complex appendages the latter have. Velvet worms are prone to desiccation not due to breathing through their skin but due to their spiracles being inefficient at protecting from desiccation, like clitellates they demonstrate extensive terrestrial adaptations and differences from their marine relatives including live birth. Many animals live in terrestrial environments by thriving in transient often microscopic bodies of water and moisture, these include rotifers and gastrotrichs which lay resilient eggs capable of surviving years in dry environments, and some of which can go dormant themselves. Nematodes are usually microscopic with this lifestyle. Although eutardigrades only have lifespans of

9028-577: The mollusca . Many hundreds of gastropod genera and species live in intermediate situations, such as for example, Truncatella . Some gastropods with gills live on land, and others with a lung live in the water. As well as the purely terrestrial and the purely aquatic animals, there are many borderline species. There are no universally accepted criteria for deciding how to label these species, thus some assignments are disputed. Fossil evidence has shown that sea creatures, likely arthropods, first began to make forays onto land around 530 million years ago, in

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9176-490: The southern toad ( Bufo terrestris ), which can be distinguished by the presence of two bulbs in front of the parotoid glands. The cane toad genome has been sequenced and certain Australian academics believe this will help in understanding how the toad can quickly evolve to adapt to new environments, the workings of its infamous toxin, and hopefully provide new options for halting this species' march across Australia and other places it has spread as an invasive pest. Studies of

9324-411: The specific epithet marina on an illustration by Dutch zoologist Albertus Seba , who mistakenly believed the cane toad to inhabit both terrestrial and marine environments. Other common names include "giant neotropical toad", "Dominican toad", "giant marine toad", and "South American cane toad". In Trinidadian English, they are commonly called crapaud , the French word for toad. The genus Rhinella

9472-451: The "teacher toads" were virtually wiped out, but experimental areas still contained substantial populations of yellow-spotted monitors. Many species prey on the cane toad and its tadpoles in its native habitat, including the broad-snouted caiman ( Caiman latirostris ), the banded cat-eyed snake ( Leptodeira annulata ), eels (family Anguillidae ), various species of killifish , and Paraponera clavata (bullet ants). Predators outside

9620-404: The Chiapas highlands, and Kaminaljuyú in the central Guatemala highlands, were important southern highland Maya centers. The latter site, Kaminaljuyú, is one of the longest occupied sites in Mesoamerica and was continuously inhabited from c. 800 BCE to around 1200 CE. Other important highland Maya groups include the Kʼicheʼ of Utatlán , the Mam in Zaculeu , the Poqomam in Mixco Viejo , and

9768-453: The Early Cambrian . There is little reason to believe, however, that animals first began living reliably on land around that time. A more likely hypothesis is that these early arthropods' motivation for venturing onto dry land was to mate (as modern horseshoe crabs do) or to lay eggs out of the reach of predators. Three groups of arthropods had independently adapted to land by the end of the Cambrian: myriapods , hexapods and arachnids . By

9916-401: The Mesoamerican Paleo-Indian. These sites had obsidian blades and Clovis -style fluted projectile points . The Archaic period (8000–2000 BCE) is characterized by the rise of incipient agriculture in Mesoamerica. The initial phases of the Archaic involved the cultivation of wild plants, transitioning into informal domestication and culminating with sedentism and agricultural production by

10064-405: The Olmec include San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán , La Venta , and Tres Zapotes . Specific dates vary, but these sites were occupied from roughly 1200 to 400 BCE. Remains of other early cultures interacting with the Olmec have been found at Takalik Abaj , Izapa , and Teopantecuanitlan , and as far south as in Honduras . Research in the Pacific Lowlands of Chiapas and Guatemala suggest that Izapa and

10212-421: The Totonac, mainly in the modern-day states of Tamaulipas and northern Veracruz. The Mixtec and Zapotec cultures, centered at Mitla and Zaachila respectively, inhabited Oaxaca. The Postclassic ends with the arrival of the Spanish and their subsequent conquest of the Aztecs between 1519 and 1521. Many other cultural groups did not acquiesce until later. For example, Maya groups in the Petén area, including

10360-589: The University of Sydney, developed these sausage-shaped baits as a tool in order to train native animals not to eat the toads. By blending bits of toad with a nausea-inducing chemical, the baits train the animals to stay away from the amphibians. Young cane toads that aren't lethal upon ingestion have also been used to teach native predators avoidance, namely yellow-spotted monitors . 200,000 metamorphs, tadpoles, and eggs in total were released in areas ahead of inevitable invasion fronts. Following invasion by wild cane toads, yellow-spotted monitors in control areas bereft of

10508-642: The air also. Gastropod mollusks are one of the most successful animals that have diversified in the fully terrestrial habitat. They have evolved terrestrial taxa in more than nine lineages. They are commonly referred to as land snails and slugs . Terrestrial invasion of gastropod mollusks has occurred in Neritopsina , Cyclophoroidea , Littorinoidea , Rissooidea , Ellobioidea , Onchidioidea , Veronicelloidea , Succineoidea , and Stylommatophora , and in particular, each of Neritopsina, Rissooidea and Ellobioidea has likely achieved land invasion more than once. Most terrestrialization events have occurred during

10656-525: The amphibians. Opossums of the genus Didelphis likely can eat cane toads with impunity. Meat ants are unaffected by the cane toads' toxins, so are able to kill them. The cane toad's normal response to attack is to stand still and let its toxin kill or repel the attacker, which allows the ants to attack and eat the toad. Saw-shelled turtles have also been seen successfully and safely eating cane toads. In Australia rakali (Australian water rats) in two years learnt how to eat cane toads safely. They select

10804-571: The biological control of pests damaging the sugarcane crops, and while the toads became abundant, they have done even less to control the pests than in Australia. The toad was introduced to Martinique from French Guiana before 1944 and became established. Today, they reduce the mosquito and mole cricket populations. A third introduction to the region occurred in 1884, when toads appeared in Jamaica, reportedly imported from Barbados to help control

10952-540: The cane toad has become a pest in many host countries, and poses a serious threat to native animals. Following the apparent success of the cane toad in eating the beetles threatening the sugarcane plantations of Puerto Rico, and the fruitful introductions into Hawaiʻi and the Philippines, a strong push was made for the cane toad to be released in Australia to negate the pests ravaging the Queensland cane fields. As

11100-536: The cane toad has been employed in a number of commercial and noncommercial applications. Traditionally, within the toad's natural range in South America, the Embera-Wounaan would "milk" the toads for their toxin, which was then employed as an arrow poison . The toxins may have been used as an entheogen by the Olmec people. The toad has been hunted as a food source in parts of Peru , and eaten after

11248-490: The cane toad has been introduced to many regions of the Pacific and the Caribbean islands as a method of agricultural pest control . The common name of the species is derived from its use against the cane beetle ( Dermolepida albohirtum ), which damages sugar cane . The cane toad is now considered a pest and an invasive species in many of its introduced regions. The 1988 film Cane Toads: An Unnatural History documented

11396-448: The cane toad has numerous advantages: they are plentiful, and easy and inexpensive to maintain and handle. The use of the cane toad in experiments started in the 1950s, and by the end of the 1960s, large numbers were being collected and exported to high schools and universities. Since then, a number of Australian states have introduced or tightened importation regulations. There are several commercial uses for dead cane toads. Cane toad skin

11544-479: The cane toad is capable of inflating its lungs, puffing up, and lifting its body off the ground to appear taller and larger to a potential predator. Since 2011, experimenters in the Kimberley region of Western Australia have used poisonous sausages containing toad meat in an attempt to protect native animals from cane toads' deadly impact. The Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation, along with

11692-411: The cane toad is dry and warty. Distinct ridges above the eyes run down the snout. Individual cane toads can be grey, yellowish, red-brown, or olive-brown, with varying patterns. A large parotoid gland lies behind each eye. The ventral surface is cream-coloured and may have blotches in shades of black or brown. The pupils are horizontal and the irises golden. The toes have a fleshy webbing at their base, and

11840-464: The cane toad was assumed to have controlled the white grub; this view was reinforced by a Nature article titled "Toads save sugar crop", and this led to large-scale introductions throughout many parts of the Pacific. The cane toad has been spotted in Carriacou and Dominica , the latter appearance occurring in spite of the failure of the earlier introductions. On September 8, 2013, the cane toad

11988-729: The cane toad's native range include the rock flagtail ( Kuhlia rupestris ), some species of catfish (order Siluriformes), some species of ibis (subfamily Threskiornithinae), the whistling kite ( Haliastur sphenurus ), the rakali ( Hydromys chrysogaster ), the black rat ( Rattus rattus ) and the water monitor ( Varanus salvator ). The tawny frogmouth ( Podargus strigoides ) and the Papuan frogmouth ( Podargus papuensis ) have been reported as feeding on cane toads; some Australian crows ( Corvus spp.) have also learned strategies allowing them to feed on cane toads, such as using their beak to flip toads onto their backs. Kookaburras also prey on

12136-407: The cane toad's poison may have some applications in treating prostate cancer . Other modern applications of the cane toad include pregnancy testing, as pets, laboratory research, and the production of leather goods. Pregnancy testing was conducted in the mid-20th century by injecting urine from a woman into a male toad's lymph sacs , and if spermatozoa appeared in the toad's urine, the patient

12284-523: The careful removal of the skin and parotoid glands . When properly prepared, the meat of the toad is considered healthy and as a source of omega-3 fatty acids . More recently, the toad's toxins have been used in a number of new ways: bufotenin has been used in Japan as an aphrodisiac and a hair restorer , and in cardiac surgery in China to lower the heart rates of patients. New research has suggested that

12432-441: The central Amazon and southeastern Peru , and some of the continental islands near Venezuela (such as Trinidad and Tobago ). This area encompasses both tropical and semiarid environments. The density of the cane toad is significantly lower within its native distribution than in places where it has been introduced. In South America, the density was recorded to be 20 adults per 100 m (110 yd) of shoreline, 1 to 2% of

12580-492: The central Mexican highlands is represented by such sites as Tlapacoya , Tlatilco , and Cuicuilco . These sites were eventually superseded by Teotihuacán , an important Classic-era site that eventually dominated economic and interaction spheres throughout Mesoamerica. The settlement of Teotihuacan is dated to the later portion of the Late Preclassic, or roughly 50 CE. In the Valley of Oaxaca , San José Mogote represents one of

12728-480: The chemicals excreted by the cane toad, is classified as a schedule 9 drug under Australian law, alongside heroin and LSD . The effects of bufotenin are thought to be similar to those of mild poisoning; the stimulation, which includes mild hallucinations , lasts less than an hour. As the cane toad excretes bufotenin in small amounts, and other toxins in relatively large quantities, toad licking could result in serious illness or death. In addition to releasing toxin,

12876-516: The city of Teotihuacan ascended at the height of the Classic period; it formed a military and commercial empire whose political influence stretched south into the Maya area and northward. Upon the collapse of Teotihuacán around 600 CE, competition between several important political centers in central Mexico, such as Xochicalco and Cholula , ensued. At this time during the Epi-Classic period,

13024-465: The civilization extended North and South from its heartland in southern Mexico. The term was first used by the German ethnologist Paul Kirchhoff , who noted that similarities existed among the various pre-Columbian cultures within the region that included southern Mexico, Guatemala , Belize , El Salvador , western Honduras , and the Pacific lowlands of Nicaragua and northwestern Costa Rica . In

13172-539: The close of the period. Transformations of natural environments have been a common feature at least since the mid Holocene. Archaic sites include Sipacate in Escuintla , Guatemala, where maize pollen samples date to c. 3500 BCE. The first complex civilization to develop in Mesoamerica was that of the Olmec , who inhabited the Gulf Coast region of Veracruz throughout the Preclassic period. The main sites of

13320-592: The control of a Toltec empire. Chronological data refutes this early interpretation, and it is now known that Chichén Itzá predated the Toltec; Mexican architectural styles are now used as an indicator of strong economic and ideological ties between the two regions. The Postclassic (beginning 900–1000 CE, depending on area) is, like the Late Classic, characterized by the cyclical crystallization and fragmentation of various polities. The main Maya centers were located in

13468-511: The density in Australia. The cane toad has been introduced to many regions of the world—particularly the Pacific—for the biological control of agricultural pests. These introductions have generally been well documented, and the cane toad may be one of the most studied of any introduced species . Before the early 1840s, the cane toad had been introduced into Martinique and Barbados , from French Guiana and Guyana . An introduction to Jamaica

13616-445: The discovery was announced in 1948. Initial reports argued the toads were effective in reducing the levels of cutworms and sweet potato yields were thought to be improving. As a result, these first releases were followed by further distributions across much of the region, although their effectiveness on other crops, such as cabbages, has been questioned; when the toads were released at Wau , the cabbages provided insufficient shelter and

13764-531: The end of the post-Classic period, the Aztecs of Central Mexico built a tributary empire covering most of central Mesoamerica. The distinct Mesoamerican cultural tradition ended with the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. Eurasian diseases such as smallpox and measles , which were endemic among the colonists but new to North America, caused the deaths of upwards of 90% of the indigenous people, resulting in great losses to their societies and cultures. Over

13912-420: The fingers are free of webbing. Typically, juvenile cane toads have smooth, dark skin, although some specimens have a red wash. Juveniles lack the adults' large parotoid glands, so they are usually less poisonous. The tadpoles are small and uniformly black, and are bottom-dwellers, tending to form schools . Tadpoles range from 10 to 25 mm (0.4 to 1.0 in) in length. The common name "marine toad" and

14060-536: The formation of New World cultures from the mixtures of the indigenous Mesoamerican peoples with the European, African, and Asian peoples who were introduced by the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Mesoamerica is one of the six areas in the world where ancient civilization arose independently (see cradle of civilization ), and the second in the Americas, alongside the Caral–Supe in present-day Peru . Mesoamerica

14208-421: The genome confirm its evolutionary origins in northern part of South America and its close genetic relation to Rhinella diptycha and other similar species of the genus. Recent studies suggest that R. marina diverged between 2.75 and 9.40 million years ago. A recent split in the species into further subspecies may have occurred approximately 2.7 million years ago following the isolation of population groups by

14356-550: The ground, in contrast to arboreal species, who live primarily in trees, even though the latter are actually a specialized subgroup of the terrestrial fauna. There are other less common terms that apply to specific subgroups of terrestrial animals: Terrestrial invasion is one of the most important events in the history of life . Terrestrial lineages evolved in several animal phyla , among which arthropods, vertebrates and mollusks are representatives of more successful groups of terrestrial animals. Terrestrial animals do not form

14504-478: The land snakes Pseudechis australis and Acanthophis antarcticus , and the crocodile species Crocodylus johnstoni ; in contrast, the population of the agamid lizard Amphibolurus gilberti —known to be a prey item of V. panoptes —has increased. Meat ants , however, are able to kill cane toads. The cane toad has also been linked to decreases in northern quolls in the southern region of Kakadu National Park and even their local extinction . The cane toad

14652-549: The largest toads, turn them over, remove the poisonous gallbladder, and eat the heart and other organs with "surgical precision". They remove the toxic skin and eat the thigh muscle. Other animals such as crows and kites turn cane toads inside out and eat non-poisonous organs, also thus avoiding the skin. The cane toad is native to the Americas, and its range stretches from the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas to

14800-510: The late Ordovician , they may have fully terrestrialized. There are other groups of arthropods, all from malacostracan crustaceans, which independently became terrestrial at a later date: woodlice , sandhoppers , and terrestrial crabs . Additionally, the sister panarthropodan groups Onychophora (velvet worms) are also terrestrial, while the Eutardigrada are also adapted for land to some degree; both groups probably becoming so during

14948-430: The latter can be readily distinguished from the former by its vertical pupils and its silver-grey (as opposed to gold) irises . Juvenile cane toads may be confused with species of the genus Uperoleia , but their adult colleagues can be distinguished by the lack of bright colouring on the groin and thighs. In the United States, the cane toad closely resembles many bufonid species. In particular, it could be confused with

15096-432: The low flatlands of the northern Yucatán Peninsula. The tallest mountain in Mesoamerica is Pico de Orizaba , a dormant volcano located on the border of Puebla and Veracruz . Its peak elevation is 5,636 m (18,490 ft). The Sierra Madre mountains, which consist of several smaller ranges, run from northern Mesoamerica south through Costa Rica . The chain is historically volcanic . In central and southern Mexico,

15244-421: The lowlands and coastal plains settled down in agrarian communities somewhat later than did highland cultures because there was a greater abundance of fruits and animals in these areas, which made a hunter-gatherer lifestyle more attractive. Fishing also was a major provider of food to lowland and coastal Mesoamericans creating a further disincentive to settle down in permanent communities. Ceremonial centers were

15392-590: The more important ones served as loci of human occupation in the area. The longest river in Mesoamerica is the Usumacinta , which forms in Guatemala at the convergence of the Salinas or Chixoy and La Pasión River and runs north for 970 km (600 mi)—480 km (300 mi) of which are navigable—eventually draining into the Gulf of Mexico . Other rivers of note include the Río Grande de Santiago ,

15540-633: The more well known are the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System , the second largest in the world, and La Mosquitia (consisting of the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve , Tawahka Asangni, Patuca National Park , and Bosawás Biosphere Reserve ) a rainforest second in size in the Americas only to the Amazonas . The highlands present mixed and coniferous forest. The biodiversity is among the richest in

15688-502: The national government of Fiji decided to release the toad in 1953, and 67 specimens were subsequently imported from Hawaiʻi. Once the toads were established, a 1963 study concluded, as the toad's diet included both harmful and beneficial invertebrates, it was considered "economically neutral". Today, the cane toad can be found on all major islands in Fiji, although they tend to be smaller than their counterparts in other regions. The cane toad

15836-461: The native population in South America, the rapid evolution occurring in the unnaturally large population in Australia has produced tadpoles 30x more likely to be interested in cannibalising their siblings, and 2.6x more likely to actually do so . They have also evolved to shorten their tadpole phase in response to the presence of older tadpoles. These changes are likely genetic, although no genetic basis has been determined. As with rates of growth,

15984-493: The next centuries, Mesoamerican indigenous cultures were gradually subjected to Spanish colonial rule. Aspects of the Mesoamerican cultural heritage still survive among the indigenous peoples who inhabit Mesoamerica. Many continue to speak their ancestral languages and maintain many practices hearkening back to their Mesoamerican roots. The term Mesoamerica literally means "middle America" in Greek. Middle America often refers to

16132-504: The northern lowlands. Generally applied to the Maya area, the Terminal Classic roughly spans the time between c. 800/850 and c. 1000 CE. Overall, it generally correlates with the rise to prominence of Puuc settlements in the northern Maya lowlands , so named after the hills where they are mainly found. Puuc settlements are specifically associated with a unique architectural style (the "Puuc architectural style") that represents

16280-574: The northern lowlands. Following Chichén Itzá, whose political structure collapsed during the Early Postclassic, Mayapán rose to prominence during the Middle Postclassic and dominated the north for c. 200 years. After Mayapán's fragmentation, the political structure in the northern lowlands revolved around large towns or city-states, such as Oxkutzcab and Ti’ho ( Mérida, Yucatán ), that competed with one another. Toniná , in

16428-415: The nuclei of Mesoamerican settlements. The temples provided spatial orientation, which was imparted to the surrounding town. The cities with their commercial and religious centers were always political entities, somewhat similar to the European city-state , and each person could identify with the city where they lived. Ceremonial centers were always built to be visible. Pyramids were meant to stand out from

16576-449: The oldest permanent agricultural villages in the area, and one of the first to use pottery. During the Early and Middle Preclassic, the site developed some of the earliest examples of defensive palisades , ceremonial structures, the use of adobe , and hieroglyphic writing . Also of importance, the site was one of the first to demonstrate inherited status , signifying a radical shift in socio-cultural and political structure. San José Mogote

16724-473: The organization of sedentary agricultural villages. In the subsequent Formative period, agriculture and cultural traits such as a complex mythological and religious tradition , a vigesimal numeric system, a complex calendric system , a tradition of ball playing , and a distinct architectural style , were diffused through the area. Villages began to become socially stratified and develop into chiefdoms , and large ceremonial centers were built, interconnected by

16872-687: The past few decades has established that it was first settled during the Early/Late Classic transition but rose to prominence during the Terminal Classic and Early Postclassic. During its apogee, this widely known site economically and politically dominated the northern lowlands. Its participation in the circum-peninsular exchange route, possible through its port site of Isla Cerritos , allowed Chichén Itzá to remain highly connected to areas such as central Mexico and Central America. The apparent "Mexicanization" of architecture at Chichén Itzá led past researchers to believe that Chichén Itzá existed under

17020-410: The point at which the toads become sexually mature varies across different regions. In New Guinea, sexual maturity is reached by female toads with a snout–vent length between 70 and 80 mm (2.8 and 3.1 in), while toads in Panama achieve maturity when they are between 90 and 100 mm (3.5 and 3.9 in) in length. In tropical regions, such as their native habitats, breeding occurs throughout

17168-401: The potential range of habitats that the toad can populate. The cane toad has a high tolerance to water loss; some can withstand a 52.6% loss of body water, allowing them to survive outside tropical environments. Most frogs identify prey by movement, and vision appears to be the primary method by which the cane toad detects prey; however, it can also locate food using its sense of smell. They eat

17316-405: The predators during the day, and in part because the beetles live at the tops of sugar cane—and cane toads are not good climbers. Since its original introduction, the cane toad has had a particularly marked effect on Australian biodiversity . The population of a number of native predatory reptiles has declined, such as the varanid lizards Varanus mertensi , V. mitchelli , and V. panoptes ,

17464-442: The reference and CC-BY-2.5 text from the reference and CC-BY-3.0 text from the reference Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize , Guatemala , El Salvador , and parts of Honduras , Nicaragua and Costa Rica . As

17612-632: The remainder of the northern portion of the Yucatán Peninsula . Other areas include Central Mexico, West Mexico, the Gulf Coast Lowlands, Oaxaca , the Southern Pacific Lowlands, and Southeast Mesoamerica (including northern Honduras ). There is extensive topographic variation in Mesoamerica, ranging from the high peaks circumscribing the Valley of Mexico and within the central Sierra Madre mountains to

17760-416: The rest of the city, to represent the gods and their powers. Another characteristic feature of the ceremonial centers is historic layers. All the ceremonial edifices were built in various phases, one on top of the other, to the point that what we now see is usually the last stage of construction. Ultimately, the ceremonial centers were the architectural translation of the identity of each city, as represented by

17908-569: The rising Venezuelan Andes . Considered the largest species in the Bufonidae, the cane toad is very large; the females are significantly longer than males, reaching a typical length of 10–15 cm (4–6 in), with a maximum of 24 cm (9.4 in). Larger toads tend to be found in areas of lower population density. They have a life expectancy of 10 to 15 years in the wild, and can live considerably longer in captivity, with one specimen reportedly surviving for 35 years. The skin of

18056-402: The rodent population. While they had no significant effect on the rats, they nevertheless became well established. Other introductions include the release on Antigua —possibly before 1916, although this initial population may have died out by 1934 and been reintroduced at a later date—and Montserrat , which had an introduction before 1879 that led to the establishment of a solid population, which

18204-427: The scientific name Rhinella marina suggest a link to marine life , but cane toads do not live in the sea. However, laboratory experiments suggest that tadpoles can tolerate salt concentrations equivalent to 15% of seawater (~5.4‰), and recent field observations found living tadpoles and toadlets at salinities of 27.5‰ on Coiba Island , Panama . The cane toad inhabits open grassland and woodland, and has displayed

18352-402: The species to other parts of the country. These include introductions to Florida and to Hawaiʻi, as well as largely unsuccessful introductions to Louisiana . Initial releases into Florida failed. Attempted introductions before 1936 and 1944, intended to control sugarcane pests, were unsuccessful as the toads failed to proliferate. Later attempts failed in the same way. However, the toad gained

18500-550: The standard terminology of precolumbian anthropological studies. Conversely, the sister terms Aridoamerica and Oasisamerica , which refer to northern Mexico and the western United States, respectively, have not entered into widespread usage. Some of the significant cultural traits defining the Mesoamerican cultural tradition are: Located on the Middle American isthmus joining North and South America between ca. 10° and 22° northern latitude , Mesoamerica possesses

18648-405: The tadpoles to develop into juveniles, with four weeks being typical. Similarly to their adult counterparts, eggs and tadpoles are toxic to many animals. When they emerge, toadlets typically are about 10–11 mm (0.39–0.43 in) in length, and grow rapidly. While the rate of growth varies by region, time of year, and sex, an average initial growth rate of 0.647 mm (0.0255 in) per day

18796-633: The time following the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century is classified as the Colonial period. The differentiation of early periods (i.e., up through the end of the Late Preclassic ) generally reflects different configurations of socio-cultural organization that are characterized by increasing socio-political complexity , the adoption of new and different subsistence strategies , and changes in economic organization (including increased interregional interaction). The Classic period through

18944-536: The toads rapidly left the immediate area for the superior shelter offered by the forest. A similar situation had previously arisen in the Australian cane fields, but this experience was either unknown or ignored in New Guinea. The cane toad has since become abundant in rural and urban areas. The cane toad naturally exists in South Texas , but attempts (both deliberate and accidental) have been made to introduce

19092-407: The tradition of cultural history , the prevalent archaeological theory of the early to middle 20th century, Kirchhoff defined this zone as a cultural area based on a suite of interrelated cultural similarities brought about by millennia of inter- and intra-regional interaction (i.e., diffusion ). Mesoamerica is recognized as a near-prototypical cultural area. This term is now fully integrated into

19240-477: The trials and tribulations of the introduction of cane toads in Australia . Historically, the cane toad was used to eradicate pests from sugarcane , giving rise to its common name. The cane toad has many other common names, including "giant toad" and "marine toad"; the former refers to its size, and the latter to the binomial name , R. marina . It was one of many species described by Carl Linnaeus in his 18th-century work Systema Naturae (1758). Linnaeus based

19388-411: The veneration of their gods and masters. Stelae were common public monuments throughout Mesoamerica and served to commemorate notable successes, events, and dates associated with the rulers and nobility of the various sites. Given that Mesoamerica was broken into numerous and diverse ecological niches, none of the societies that inhabited the area were self-sufficient, although very long-distance trade

19536-567: The wild. The toads became firmly established in Queensland, increasing exponentially in number and extending their range into the Northern Territory and New South Wales . In 2010, one was found on the far western coast in Broome, Western Australia . However, the toad was generally unsuccessful in reducing the targeted grey-backed cane beetles ( Dermolepida albohirtum ), in part because the cane fields provided insufficient shelter for

19684-759: The world, though the number of species in the red list of the IUCN grows every year. The history of human occupation in Mesoamerica is divided into stages or periods. These are known, with slight variation depending on region, as the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic (or Formative), the Classic , and the Postclassic . The last three periods, representing the core of Mesoamerican cultural fluorescence, are further divided into two or three sub-phases. Most of

19832-423: The year, but in subtropical areas, breeding occurs only during warmer periods that coincide with the onset of the wet season . The cane toad is estimated to have a critical thermal maximum of 40–42 °C (104–108 °F) and a minimum of around 10–15 °C (50–59 °F). The ranges can change due to adaptation to the local environment. Cane toads from some populations can adjust their thermal tolerance within

19980-514: Was allied with Caracol and may have assisted in the defeat of Tikal), and Dos Pilas Aguateca and Cancuén in the Petexbatún region of Guatemala. Around 710, Tikal arose again and started to build strong alliances and defeat its worst enemies. In the Maya area, the Late Classic ended with the so-called " Maya collapse ", a transitional period coupling the general depopulation of the southern lowlands and development and florescence of centers in

20128-468: Was also discovered on the island of New Providence in the Bahamas. The cane toad was first introduced deliberately into the Philippines in 1930 as a biological control agent of pests in sugarcane plantations, after the success of the experimental introductions into Puerto Rico. It subsequently became the most ubiquitous amphibian in the islands. It still retains the common name of bakî or kamprag in

20276-475: Was apparently sufficient to survive the Soufrière Hills volcano eruption in 1995. In 1920, the cane toad was introduced into Puerto Rico to control the populations of white grub ( Phyllophaga spp.), a sugarcane pest. Before this, the pests were manually collected by humans, so the introduction of the toad eliminated labor costs. A second group of toads was imported in 1923, and by 1932, the cane toad

20424-400: Was common only for very rare goods, or luxury materials. For this reason, from the last centuries of the Archaic period (8000 BCE– 1000 BCE) onward, regions compensated for the environmental inadequacies by specializing in the extraction of certain abundant natural resources and then trading them for necessary unavailable resources through established commercial trade networks. The following

20572-401: Was deemed to be pregnant. The tests using toads were faster than those employing mammals ; the toads were easier to raise, and, although the initial 1948 discovery employed Bufo arenarum for the tests, it soon became clear that a variety of anuran species were suitable, including the cane toad. As a result, toads were employed in this task for around 20 years. As a laboratory animal ,

20720-477: Was eventually overtaken by Monte Albán , the subsequent capital of the Zapotec empire , during the Late Preclassic. The Preclassic in western Mexico, in the states of Nayarit , Jalisco , Colima , and Michoacán also known as the Occidente, is poorly understood. This period is best represented by the thousands of figurines recovered by looters and ascribed to the " shaft tomb tradition ". The Classic period

20868-590: Was formerly assigned to the genus Bufo . A fossil toad (specimen UCMP 41159) from the La Venta fauna of the late Miocene in Colombia is morphologically indistinguishable from modern cane toads from northern South America. It was discovered in a floodplain deposit, which suggests the R. marina habitat preferences have long been for open areas. The cane toad is a prolific breeder; females lay single-clump spawns with thousands of eggs . Its reproductive success

21016-460: Was introduced into New Guinea to control the hawk moth larvae eating sweet potato crops. The first release occurred in 1937 using toads imported from Hawaiʻi, with a second release the same year using specimens from the Australian mainland. Evidence suggests a third release in 1938, consisting of toads being used for human pregnancy tests —many species of toad were found to be effective for this task, and were employed for about 20 years after

21164-515: Was introduced to various Caribbean islands to counter a number of pests infesting local crops. While it was able to establish itself on some islands, such as Barbados , Jamaica , Hispaniola and Puerto Rico , other introductions, such as in Cuba before 1900 and in 1946, and on the islands of Dominica and Grand Cayman , were unsuccessful. The earliest recorded introductions were to Barbados and Martinique . The Barbados introductions were focused on

21312-457: Was made in 1844 in an attempt to reduce the rat population. Despite its failure to control the rodents, the cane toad was introduced to Puerto Rico in the early 20th century in the hope that it would counter a beetle infestation ravaging the sugarcane plantations. The Puerto Rican scheme was successful and halted the economic damage caused by the beetles, prompting scientists in the 1930s to promote it as an ideal solution to agricultural pests. As

21460-589: Was predominantly used by the Maya during the Early Classic), and jade from the Motagua valley in Guatemala. Tikal was often in conflict with other polities in the Petén Basin , as well as with others outside of it, including Uaxactun , Caracol , Dos Pilas , Naranjo , and Calakmul . Towards the end of the Early Classic, this conflict lead to Tikal's military defeat at the hands of Caracol in 562, and

21608-584: Was subsequently introduced as a synonym through misspelling by Pramuk, Robertson, Sites, and Noonan (2008). Though controversial (with many traditional herpetologists still using Bufo marinus ) the binomial Rhinella marina is gaining in acceptance with such bodies as the IUCN , Encyclopaedia of Life , Amphibian Species of the World and increasing numbers of scientific publications adopting its usage. Since 2016, cane toad populations native to Mesoamerica and northwestern South America are sometimes considered to be

21756-506: Was the staple crop in the region, and remained so through modern times. The Ramón or Breadnut tree ( Brosimum alicastrum ) was an occasional substitute for maize in producing flour. Fruit was also important in the daily diet of Mesoamerican cultures. Some of the main ones consumed include avocado , papaya , guava , mamey , zapote , and annona . Mesoamerica lacked animals suitable for domestication, most notably domesticated large ungulates . The lack of draft animals for transportation

21904-572: Was well established. The population of white grubs dramatically decreased, and this was attributed to the cane toad at the annual meeting of the International Sugar Cane Technologists in Puerto Rico. However, there may have been other factors. The six-year period after 1931—when the cane toad was most prolific, and the white grub had a dramatic decline—had the highest-ever rainfall for Puerto Rico. Nevertheless,

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