Cane Toad

• Its powerful bufotoxins have caused population crashes in a great many native Australian predators.
• It eats insects, small vertebrates and practically anything else on offer.
• It lays between 5,000 and 35,000 eggs in a clutch, among the largest of any amphibian.
• fisiologíaIts parotoid glands can squirt a potent toxin when it is bitten, and in Australia some native predators have been recorded learning to avoid the poisonous organs and eat only the safe parts.
• ecologíaIt was deliberately introduced to Australia in 1935 to control crop pests, but with no native predators adapted to its poison it became an invasive species that has done serious ecological damage.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (amphibian)

Habitat & environment

Open disturbed ground in South and Central America; widely introduced to Australia, Florida and Oceania

Birth weight

A tiny tadpole, hatching in anything from 48 hours to a week

Size at birth

Tiny at hatching

Sexual maturity

6-18 months

Gestation / incubation

48 hours to a week of egg development; metamorphosis complete in 12-60 days

Litter / clutch size

5,000 to 35,000 eggs per clutch, among the largest of any amphibian

Lifespan in captivity

Documented record of up to 10 years in captivity

Sources consulted: Discover Wildlife; AnAge (genomics.senescence.info); Animal Diversity Web; USGS NAS Species Profile; Animal Files; PMC (apex predator life history study, monitor lizard impact study)