Malayan horned toad
The Malayan horned toad, also known as the long-nosed horn frog or Bornean horned frog, is a small amphibian native to Malaysia and Southeast Asia, typically measuring between 1.5 and 4 inches in length. These terrestrial toads are remarkable for their excellent camouflage, resembling dead leaves on the forest floor, which helps them evade predators such as snakes and birds. They are characterized by their plump, round bodies and distinctive triangular skin flaps on their eyelids and noses, enhancing their leaf-like appearance.
As carnivores, Malayan horned frogs primarily feed on arachnids, nestling rodents, lizards, and other small creatures, including scorpions and crabs. The mating season occurs in spring, with females laying fertilized eggs in strands around moist aquatic plants. The eggs have a one to two-month incubation period, after which they hatch into tadpoles, spending around 20 days in this larval stage before undergoing metamorphosis into adult toads. With a lifespan of up to 10 years, these fascinating creatures play a significant role in their ecosystem, balancing predator and prey dynamics.
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Malaysian horned toad
Malayan horned frogs have very good skin camouflage. They are brown and dry and look very much like the dead leaves they live among on the forest floor. It is also known as the long-nosed horn frog, Bornean horned frog, or Malayan leaf frog and was previous listed as the species Megophrys nasuta.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Megophryidae
Genus: Pelobatrachus
Species: Nasutus
Malayan horned frogs generally grow to be between 1 1/2 and 4 inches (4 and 10 centimeters) long. They are terrestrial, or ground-dwelling, toads, which live on the island of Malaysia and throughout southeast Asia.
These dry, brown toads have smooth, shiny skin which closely resembles dead, brown, fallen leaves. They are called horned toads for the triangular flaps of skin which project out of their eyelids and noses. These three flaps help them to blend in with their leafy environment. In body shape, Malayan horned frogs are plump and round with short limbs. They have a few ridges and lines along the curves of their bodies to help further disguise them as a pile of small, dead leaves.
Malayan horned frogs spend their days along the forest floor hiding from predators and hunting for prey. These brown, leaf-like toads are preyed upon by a variety of snakes and birds which sense them, in spite of their good camouflage. Being carnivores, or meat-eating animals, Malayan horned frogs prey on arachnids, nestling rodents, lizards and other frogs, as well as scorpions and crabs.
Mating season for Malayan horned frogs takes place in the spring. Females are oviparous, which means they lay live eggs that have been fertilized during mating. After mating, the females lay strands of eggs around the stems of moist, wet plants, usually aquatic, or water-living, plants in pools, streams, or puddles. The eggs have an incubation period of one to two months. An incubation period is the time between egg laying and egg hatching. When the eggs hatch, the young toads spend the first 20 days of their lives as tadpoles. During this time they experience a change, or metamorphosis, during which they transform into their adult forms as toads.
Malayan horned frogs have a life span of up to 10 years.
Bibliography
“Malayan Horned Frog - Pelobatrachus Nasutus.” Ecology Asia, www.ecologyasia.com/verts/amphibians/malayan‗horned‗frog.htm. Accessed 14 May 2024.
Mexico, Todd. “Megophrys Nasuta.” Animal Diversity Web, animaldiversity.org/accounts/Megophrys‗nasuta/. Accessed 14 May 2024.
“Pelobatrachus Nasutus (Schlegel, 1858).” Amphibian Species of the World, American Museum of Natural History, amphibiansoftheworld.amnh.org/Amphibia/Anura/Megophryidae/Megophryinae/Pelobatrachus/Pelobatrachus-nasutus. Accessed 14 May 2024.