White-lipped slender toad facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ansonia albomaculata |
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The white-lipped slender toad (scientific name: Ansonia albomaculata) is a small type of toad. It belongs to the Bufonidae family, which includes many different kinds of toads. This special toad lives only on the island of Borneo. You can find it in parts of Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak), Brunei, and northern Indonesia (Kalimantan). It is also known as the whitebelly stream toad.
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What Does This Toad Look Like?
These toads are quite slender. Male toads grow to about 30 millimeters (1.2 inches) long. Female toads are a bit larger, reaching about 35 millimeters (1.4 inches) in length. This measurement is from their snout (nose) to their vent (bottom).
Their head is wider than it is long, and their snout is flat at the end. They have an eardrum (called a tympanum) that you can see, but it's partly covered by skin. Their fingers are long and have small webs between them. Their toes are also webbed and have tiny, round tips. A clear ridge runs along the inside of their ankle area (called the tarsus).
The toad's back (called the dorsum) is dark brown. It has small bumps, but they are not very high. You might notice a light-colored spot on their upper jaw, right below their eye.
What Do the Tadpoles Look Like?
The baby toads, called tadpoles, are very small. They are usually between 10 to 14 millimeters (0.4 to 0.6 inches) long. Their body is oval-shaped and looks a bit flattened from top to bottom. They also have a tail that is rounded at the end.
Where Does the White-Lipped Slender Toad Live?
The white-lipped slender toad lives in rainforests near streams. You can find them at elevations from about 150 to 500 meters (490 to 1,640 feet) above sea level. Adult toads spend most of their time on land. They move around widely on the rainforest floor.
These toads like to breed in small, clear streams. These streams usually have rocky bottoms. The tadpoles live in fast-flowing parts of the streams, called torrents. They hold onto rocks and eat small plants that grow on the rocks.
How We Protect This Toad
The white-lipped slender toad is found in many different places, but it is generally considered rare. However, in some specific spots, there can be many of them. This toad does not do well when its home changes a lot.
What Threatens This Toad?
The biggest threats to this toad are when forests are cut down or broken into smaller pieces. This happens when forests are turned into farms for rubber or palm oil. These changes also hurt the streams where the tadpoles live. The streams can get filled with dirt (called siltation) or become polluted by chemicals from fertilizers.
Luckily, the white-lipped slender toad lives in several protected areas. These areas help keep their homes safe from harm.
