WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:03.680 Oh hey, it's your sister's new boyfriend who you're quietly 2 00:00:03.759 --> 00:00:07.080 judging because of his cracked phone screen and bad shoes. 3 00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:11.080 Ali Ward back with another episode of Ologies. If this 4 00:00:11.160 --> 00:00:13.400 is your very first episode, Just a few things. We 5 00:00:13.480 --> 00:00:16.120 swear a whole bunch in this. We swear a lot 6 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:18.480 of them, most of them. If you wish we didn't, 7 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:22.000 don't freak out. There are bleeped episodes of the podcast 8 00:00:22.039 --> 00:00:24.760 available at aliward dot com. I'll put a link in 9 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:27.640 the show notes, moving the dang heck on. Okay, So 10 00:00:27.719 --> 00:00:31.480 freakin toads. What are they? And are they the best? 11 00:00:31.640 --> 00:00:35.880 Are they the worst? Are toads the unsung underdogs? Are 12 00:00:35.880 --> 00:00:39.640 they wardy friends yet to be made? Or are they bastards? 13 00:00:39.880 --> 00:00:43.159 Do they belong in a heap of canceled beasts who 14 00:00:43.159 --> 00:00:47.200 don't deserve our admiration? You'll find out. But first business, 15 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:50.240 in which I thank everyone on patreon dot com slash 16 00:00:50.280 --> 00:00:53.560 ologies for their questions, for their patronhood, for making the 17 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:57.119 show feasible and possible and just a joy to make. 18 00:00:57.479 --> 00:01:01.200 Also thank you to everyone sporting ologies merch from ologiesmarch 19 00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:03.799 dot com and everyone who just gets it and knows 20 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:06.120 that making sure that you're subscribed, and reading the show 21 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:09.439 helps us get seen by pre ologites people who don't 22 00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:11.560 know about the show yet. Also thanks to the kind 23 00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:13.879 folks who are leaving reviews, because you know that I 24 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:17.040 read them when I'm in a hotel eating gas station food, 25 00:01:17.400 --> 00:01:19.359 and they make my day. And so I read you 26 00:01:19.400 --> 00:01:22.400 a new one each week as a thank you. And 27 00:01:22.439 --> 00:01:26.439 this week, Justin Dees said, my grandma passed away recently, 28 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:28.719 and the only thing I could do to keep myself 29 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:31.480 from crying was listening to ologies. Ali. You helped me 30 00:01:31.560 --> 00:01:34.120 laugh when I felt like crying. That's huge. Keep it up, 31 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:38.159 my friend, Justine. I'm so sorry about your grandma. I'm 32 00:01:38.200 --> 00:01:41.079 sending you a hug. Everyone texts your grandma. I does 33 00:01:41.079 --> 00:01:43.760 your grandma text? If you have a grandma, text her 34 00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:47.120 and say, hey, thanks for pushing out a baby. That 35 00:01:47.159 --> 00:01:49.319 pushed out a baby. I don't know you word it 36 00:01:49.319 --> 00:01:51.879 however you want to word it. Okay, boophology, let's go 37 00:01:51.959 --> 00:01:53.719 down a total. Let's get the hell into it. 38 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:53.879 So. 39 00:01:54.040 --> 00:01:56.640 Boofology is a word that I did not make up, 40 00:01:56.879 --> 00:02:00.680 although it's seldom cited. To be fair to the eleven 41 00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:05.159 Reptile Magazine article titled ode to a toad uses the 42 00:02:05.239 --> 00:02:08.199 term boofhology one oh one, so I'm going with it. 43 00:02:08.560 --> 00:02:13.840 There's also herpetology, which is reptiles and amphibians. There's about tractcology, 44 00:02:14.120 --> 00:02:17.560 which is the subfield that is just amphibians, which I 45 00:02:17.639 --> 00:02:20.080 may have pronounced wrong, but I tried to pronounce it 46 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:22.400 so many times. But what if I want to do 47 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:25.400 a frog episode down the line or one on Newts. 48 00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:30.120 So I'm going boofhology because it exists, people use it sometimes. Also, 49 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:33.840 Its root is buffo and the Latin for toad, which 50 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:37.960 may come from a word meaning slimy plant, or it 51 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:41.840 may also come from bouffara, meaning to puff up, and 52 00:02:42.120 --> 00:02:46.439 buffoonery is a related word. It's debatable, like toads for 53 00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:49.759 some people. So where are you with toads? You know what? 54 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:52.639 It doesn't matter because in an hour and change you'll 55 00:02:52.680 --> 00:02:56.280 be padding out to the backyard a little bare feet 56 00:02:56.639 --> 00:02:59.479 with your coffee mug every morning, just hoping for a 57 00:02:59.560 --> 00:03:02.520 toad and counter just mark my words. Okay, So this 58 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:05.759 ologist is wonderful. We tried to meet up so many 59 00:03:05.800 --> 00:03:07.960 times in the past year or so, but our travel 60 00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:10.400 plans kept hitting snags, and then this past week we 61 00:03:10.520 --> 00:03:13.120 both happened to be thousands of miles away from our 62 00:03:13.159 --> 00:03:16.120 respective homes. We were in Minneapolis on the same night. 63 00:03:16.599 --> 00:03:18.719 She was on a road trip toad trip, and I 64 00:03:18.919 --> 00:03:23.080 was on this Ology's Midwestern interview Bonanza. So I used 65 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:25.919 your patroon money to get her a nice room in 66 00:03:25.960 --> 00:03:29.719 the same hotel, and with butterflies. I went down to it, 67 00:03:30.360 --> 00:03:32.919 kind of like a nervous tender date. She is a 68 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:39.439 gorgeous soul. She's so funny and candid and enthusiastic about toads, 69 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:42.599 and I love her and I hope we are always friends. 70 00:03:42.919 --> 00:03:45.879 So if this is your first episode of Ologies, Boy, Howdy, 71 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:49.120 buckle up, get ready to hear scientists passionately describe a 72 00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:52.560 love of toads. She's so humid. I cherish her. So. 73 00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:55.400 She was once the program manager for the Association of 74 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:58.360 Fish and Wildlife Agencies, where she also served as a 75 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:03.000 national coordinator for her partners in amphibian and reptile conservation. 76 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:06.639 She worked as a biological science technician for the US 77 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:11.840 Geological Survey in the Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative, and 78 00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:16.160 now works in the nonprofit ecology sector at Conservation Science Partners, 79 00:04:16.439 --> 00:04:19.199 but is still in the field a bit out toting 80 00:04:19.639 --> 00:04:23.439 and salamandering and frogging and newting. But today she is 81 00:04:23.480 --> 00:04:27.360 in a Minnesota hotel about to get super buffhological with me. 82 00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:31.120 So hop on in to a conversation with amphibian enthusiast 83 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:54.160 and buffologist Pria Ninjappa on my way to say, Pria 84 00:04:55.600 --> 00:04:56.839 Ato sex ato. 85 00:04:56.839 --> 00:04:57.160 Six. 86 00:04:57.240 --> 00:05:04.040 Here we go me, Pria gonna talk toads, you know six. 87 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:07.360 Oh my goshchry goes. 88 00:05:07.399 --> 00:05:08.399 This is like a blind. 89 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:17.439 Toads and now you are a lover of toads? Yes, 90 00:05:19.720 --> 00:05:24.079 what is it about toads specifically you love? I know 91 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:26.160 that that. Why did I open with a question that's 92 00:05:26.680 --> 00:05:27.839 we could do a whole series? 93 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:33.079 Oh yeah, there's so many things to love. So I 94 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:35.319 was thinking about this because I knew you we're gonna 95 00:05:35.319 --> 00:05:36.680 ask me this, And there's so many different ways I 96 00:05:36.680 --> 00:05:40.279 could go with this question. But I think just in general, 97 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:44.240 I tend to be somebody who likes the underdog, you 98 00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:46.160 know what I mean, like the thing that people don't 99 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:49.920 want to love. You know. That kind of plays into 100 00:05:49.959 --> 00:05:52.240 my romantic life as well too. But anyway, that's a 101 00:05:52.240 --> 00:05:55.000 whole nother story. They're just so fucking cute, you know, 102 00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:59.720 like you just they're they're fat, and they're like grumpy face, 103 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:01.959 and you just know that they're really not grumpy, or 104 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:03.720 you want them to really not be grumpy, but they 105 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:05.720 just they want to act grumpy. They want to tough, 106 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:06.560 they puff up. 107 00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:10.959 Pre I studied wildlife biology with a minor in environmental 108 00:06:10.959 --> 00:06:13.439 studies at Iowa State University, and then she went on 109 00:06:13.480 --> 00:06:17.000 to get a master's in conservation biology at Ball University, 110 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:21.600 and her work involved developing the first national database of 111 00:06:21.800 --> 00:06:25.360 amphibian distributions and maps. Kind of like a census taker, 112 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:28.480 just going up to tiny toad houses saying, hey, knock, knock, 113 00:06:28.519 --> 00:06:30.480 how do hoo? Pardon? How many are you living in 114 00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:32.800 that lock? I'd like to observe you eating bugs and 115 00:06:32.839 --> 00:06:35.480 doing the nasty. But what got her into it? 116 00:06:36.040 --> 00:06:39.199 I remember my first toad sighting, which was in my 117 00:06:39.480 --> 00:06:43.879 mom's garden in Iowa, and it just would like hop 118 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:46.839 along the tomato plants and eat things, and like eventually 119 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:49.160 we figured out that we could build a little toad 120 00:06:49.240 --> 00:06:51.360 hut like out of a pot, you know, and just 121 00:06:51.800 --> 00:06:53.879 put that in there and it would just you know, 122 00:06:53.959 --> 00:06:55.759 go and hang out. And I was so sad on 123 00:06:55.759 --> 00:06:57.839 the days when I didn't see it, like, I'm sure 124 00:06:57.839 --> 00:06:59.720 it was all seasonal, but I don't remember, you know, 125 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:03.360 this specifics of it. And I do remember other people's 126 00:07:03.399 --> 00:07:06.120 houses where there'd be one like sitting under the gutter 127 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:08.560 eating the flies and stuff like that. And I liked 128 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:11.199 other critters too, but there was something about the toads 129 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:12.800 that I just kept coming back to that I just 130 00:07:12.920 --> 00:07:15.279 kept like, I don't know, I just love them. They're 131 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:17.480 just they just have that face, you know, it's just 132 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:18.000 that face. 133 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:20.680 I love that you had a toad friend, Like the 134 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:21.879 toad was your friend. 135 00:07:22.120 --> 00:07:23.160 It kind of was my friend. 136 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:26.319 Her wordy buddy got a toad a boat, and in 137 00:07:26.360 --> 00:07:29.040 return it ate all the bugs that wanted to eat 138 00:07:29.399 --> 00:07:33.839 their lettuces. It was a mutually beneficial relationship, kind of 139 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:36.279 like when you dog sit and then also while you're there, 140 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:37.399 you eat all their snacks. 141 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:39.680 And then I think we somehow like figured out or 142 00:07:39.720 --> 00:07:42.720 looked it up. You know, there's no no internet back 143 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:46.040 in those tests, but we figured out that there was, 144 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:48.319 that it was going to be a helpful thing, and 145 00:07:48.439 --> 00:07:50.920 so yeah, and so that toad lived there, and I 146 00:07:51.439 --> 00:07:53.720 want to think that it's was saying the same toad 147 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:55.920 came back like year after year. But I know we 148 00:07:55.959 --> 00:07:59.319 definitely saw a toad in the garden at least a 149 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:02.319 couple of years. But yeah, I don't know. 150 00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:05.040 Maybe they're great grandson of the original two. 151 00:08:05.079 --> 00:08:08.040 Oh my god, that will be just so delightful that 152 00:08:08.199 --> 00:08:12.240 was true. How long do they live? Oh man, there's 153 00:08:12.279 --> 00:08:16.120 a variety of age ranges, just depending on the species. 154 00:08:16.199 --> 00:08:18.560 I think probably ten years. You know, five to ten 155 00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:20.920 years is on average in the wild, I think, But 156 00:08:20.920 --> 00:08:22.759 there are some in captivity. I think that you know, 157 00:08:22.839 --> 00:08:24.560 have can live really long. 158 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:28.519 They look ancient. They do like they're in their eighties. 159 00:08:28.519 --> 00:08:30.879 All of them look like Wilford Brimley, and we've like 160 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:33.080 hair listen greed totally do. 161 00:08:36.600 --> 00:08:38.720 I'm Wilford Brimley, and I'd like to talk to you 162 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:41.440 for a few minutes about diabetes PS. 163 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:44.960 Wilford Brimley was a TV star who was also known 164 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:48.120 for his Quaker Oats commercials and for changing the American 165 00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:53.399 pronunciation of diabetes to diabetes diabetes. Also, I just looked 166 00:08:53.440 --> 00:08:55.679 up some facts about Wilford Brimley and the one of 167 00:08:55.720 --> 00:08:57.960 the most stunning is he's very much alive. He's only 168 00:08:57.960 --> 00:09:00.240 eighty four years old, which means that he it was 169 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:04.240 just sixty when he was playing like deep deep Grandpa 170 00:09:04.360 --> 00:09:07.240 genre rolls. I respect him for just leaning into that. 171 00:09:07.559 --> 00:09:11.200 So toads tiny grumpy grandpas. They are grumpas okay, But 172 00:09:11.240 --> 00:09:14.679 what makes a toad a toad? Straight away? What is 173 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:16.000 the difference between a frog and a toad? 174 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:23.639 Okay, So generally speaking, most frogs have like smooth skin, 175 00:09:24.360 --> 00:09:27.840 they tend to need a closer association with water or 176 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:33.200 aquatic environments. And then the toads that we traditionally know, 177 00:09:33.320 --> 00:09:35.240 you know, with the big kind of stout fat bodies 178 00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:38.279 and the warts and everything, they typically can be away 179 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:41.320 from water longer and they don't need as much of 180 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:43.879 that sort of direct moisture the way that frogs do. 181 00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:48.200 And then they also secrete these toxins from their skin 182 00:09:48.840 --> 00:09:51.559 and so yeah, and so like that's the biggest thing. 183 00:09:51.559 --> 00:09:53.559 There are some frogs that do that as well, but 184 00:09:54.679 --> 00:09:57.879 pretty much all toads have some sort of gland you 185 00:09:57.879 --> 00:10:00.840 know that they and they secrete some sort of buffo toxin. 186 00:10:01.159 --> 00:10:01.480 And so. 187 00:10:03.960 --> 00:10:07.919 It's such a good punk band, right, yeah, that would be. 188 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:12.559 Is there skin thicker and what exactly are the worts? 189 00:10:12.600 --> 00:10:14.559 Are they air quotes warts. 190 00:10:17.759 --> 00:10:22.360 That's a good question. These warts on toads are associated 191 00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:26.039 with these They have mucous glands and granular glands, but 192 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:28.159 the granular glands are the ones that are responsible for 193 00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:31.759 the toxic secretions. And it's for an anti predator defense, 194 00:10:31.799 --> 00:10:33.840 so that when anything, you know, grabs it, it just 195 00:10:33.879 --> 00:10:35.600 tastes bad and they spit it out, you know, or 196 00:10:35.639 --> 00:10:37.840 sometimes they'll get sick. Some of the toads produce some 197 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:42.799 pretty strong toxins. So all toads are frogs, but not 198 00:10:42.879 --> 00:10:45.000 all frogs are toads. I love those. 199 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:49.360 It's the old cactus succulent, yes, Like all cactus are succulents, 200 00:10:49.399 --> 00:10:51.919 not all succulents are cacti. 201 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:55.000 Yes, exactly. Like in the amphibian world, there's like like nuts, 202 00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:56.840 you know, like all nuts are salamanders, but not all 203 00:10:56.879 --> 00:11:00.600 salamanders are nuts, and nuts are too salamanders, like toads 204 00:11:00.600 --> 00:11:04.960 are to frogs. Kind of early lineages of toads are 205 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:08.000 they look more frog like, okay, and so like over 206 00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:11.799 time that those different features, the more like stout bodies 207 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:15.279 and uh, bigger warts and glands and things like that 208 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:19.679 appear kind of later in evolutionary history. They came after frogs, 209 00:11:19.799 --> 00:11:24.639 so somewhere in that like Cretaceous Cenozoic period they've been around. 210 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:28.159 Oh geez, they're Wilfrid Brimley's. It's a side note. Wonderfully 211 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:33.879 British vertebrate paleontologist Darren Nish has written extensively on toad 212 00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:38.360 evolution and its many gnarled branches. And also he has 213 00:11:38.399 --> 00:11:41.039 a pet cane toad named Milo, which looks like it 214 00:11:41.080 --> 00:11:43.519 can kick my ass. Anyway, more on cane toads in 215 00:11:43.559 --> 00:11:47.759 a minute. But cane toads, like frogs, have teeth sort of, 216 00:11:47.960 --> 00:11:50.600 they have like a little peg like nubbuts, but other 217 00:11:50.679 --> 00:11:54.759 toads do not have teeth. So to recap, toads are frogs, 218 00:11:54.919 --> 00:11:58.240 and toads have no teeth. Yes, for warts, they've got 219 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:01.759 a poison gland behind their eyes. I called a paratoid gland, 220 00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:05.919 thought to have been like an adrenal gland, just gone bonkers. 221 00:12:06.360 --> 00:12:09.879 Oh and another souped up special feature not available on 222 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:11.240 this standard frog model. 223 00:12:11.399 --> 00:12:14.480 And then the other really weird thing is that toads 224 00:12:14.519 --> 00:12:18.480 have this thing called the bitters organ okay, which sits 225 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:22.279 like kind of between the kidneys and the gonads and 226 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:24.960 I think both males and females have them, but they're 227 00:12:25.240 --> 00:12:29.840 thought to be like a primitive ovary or like it's 228 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:33.399 kind of like a spare set of follicles. But the 229 00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:36.200 males have it too, and so like in experiments in 230 00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:41.320 the lab, they've removed the testes like just castrated them, 231 00:12:41.720 --> 00:12:45.360 and all of a sudden, this bitter's organ like is like, oh, okay, 232 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:46.960 time for me to come into play. And then like 233 00:12:47.039 --> 00:12:51.480 it starts forming eggs and like, yeah, initially when I 234 00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:53.360 had learned about it, I was thinking that maybe it 235 00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:58.000 would go, you know, it would like you know, create 236 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:01.200 sperm or something in the males and over or eggs 237 00:13:01.240 --> 00:13:04.720 and the females, but no, it's just like always produces eggs. 238 00:13:04.759 --> 00:13:07.240 It has like follicles. And then the same thing with 239 00:13:07.240 --> 00:13:10.120 the female, like if one of the ovaries doesn't work, 240 00:13:10.200 --> 00:13:12.879 then it will start to come into play. But the 241 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:16.159 other interesting thing with the males is that like in 242 00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:19.919 some situations where there's estrogen, mimic chemicals or like other 243 00:13:20.039 --> 00:13:23.320 chemical things that will like chemically castraight, all of a 244 00:13:23.320 --> 00:13:27.159 sudden that organ starts taking off too. And like it's 245 00:13:27.240 --> 00:13:30.559 named after the dude who discovered it, but it always 246 00:13:31.159 --> 00:13:35.960 relates to eggs and oocytes, and that means that, you know, 247 00:13:36.039 --> 00:13:42.080 the ability to possess ovaries is probably like the original 248 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:45.320 evolutionary condition, right. 249 00:13:45.320 --> 00:13:47.440 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 250 00:13:47.080 --> 00:13:48.679 That's my story, and I was sticking to it. 251 00:13:48.720 --> 00:13:52.480 I love it, publish it. I just peer reviewed it. 252 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:53.559 Perfect. 253 00:13:53.879 --> 00:13:58.639 That's up, doney. Well okay, And then what about their big, 254 00:13:58.679 --> 00:14:01.559 crazy weird ear drum. 255 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:05.639 Oh so, well, so they I mean, they do have 256 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:09.120 that tympanum, and that's how they can hear each other 257 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:13.399 sing their lovely songs. But those ones in those areas 258 00:14:13.480 --> 00:14:20.480 where they don't call, they have like they have lost 259 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:22.960 their ear drums, so they just you know, do the 260 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:28.320 waving thing or whatever, and and they they don't even 261 00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:30.600 need them anymore, so they don't have them. So yeah, 262 00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:32.720 but it's just that tympanic membrane. It's kind of like 263 00:14:32.759 --> 00:14:35.519 in most frogs like have them. It's that it's just 264 00:14:35.559 --> 00:14:38.080 like a little kind of like a drumhead, you know, basically, 265 00:14:38.120 --> 00:14:41.440 and they you know, sense vibrations from the calls of others. 266 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:43.320 But they can sense, you know, they can tell the 267 00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:47.879 difference between their own species obviously in others. And yeah, what. 268 00:14:47.879 --> 00:14:52.960 About their eyes? Is their eyesight good? Eyesight bad. 269 00:14:53.320 --> 00:14:56.919 I don't think they're supposed to have very good I 270 00:14:56.960 --> 00:14:58.720 have never seen them in glasses that they would look 271 00:14:58.720 --> 00:15:01.240 so good in glasses though, wouldn't they. Yeah, they would 272 00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:03.840 look so good, like just some little hipster like comes 273 00:15:03.879 --> 00:15:05.720 to some you know, nice like sort of thick frame 274 00:15:05.799 --> 00:15:08.879 glasses or those ones without the rooms. Yeah, so I 275 00:15:08.919 --> 00:15:13.720 think they I don't think they're thought to have like 276 00:15:13.879 --> 00:15:16.279 great eyesight, but I don't think it's bad. I think 277 00:15:16.279 --> 00:15:18.639 they can discern color though, because like some of the 278 00:15:18.759 --> 00:15:23.720 like some toads are sexually dimorphic more than just the size, Like, 279 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:26.559 there is actually color differences, so kind of like in 280 00:15:26.600 --> 00:15:30.120 birds and stuff like that. So yeah, so they must 281 00:15:30.120 --> 00:15:32.039 be able to have they must have some color vision. 282 00:15:32.279 --> 00:15:33.159 But I don't know. 283 00:15:33.639 --> 00:15:35.480 Are the males bigger than the females. 284 00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:38.879 The females are bigger than the males by a lot. Yeah, 285 00:15:39.080 --> 00:15:42.840 by a lot, yes, Oh yeah, usually by quite a bit. 286 00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:44.960 Like if you see them mating, like it's just like 287 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:47.720 this little tiny male on top of this big old female, 288 00:15:47.960 --> 00:15:49.799 and it's just always looks a little funny. 289 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:53.399 Oh, and both have tympanyms to hear sound, such as 290 00:15:53.399 --> 00:15:57.759 for example, the romantic screamy love ballads. Man toads make 291 00:15:58.039 --> 00:16:01.360 by inflating an air sack like a big extra chin, 292 00:16:01.679 --> 00:16:03.960 kind of like having a subwoofer on your face. 293 00:16:04.519 --> 00:16:07.639 Hey, So, another thing that's really cool about toads is 294 00:16:07.720 --> 00:16:12.879 they have all like a lot more bony material in 295 00:16:12.919 --> 00:16:16.480 their skull, Like their skulls are like highly ossified, and 296 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:20.639 those crests and the shape of those crests and stuff 297 00:16:20.679 --> 00:16:23.799 are what you can use to distinguish species when they 298 00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:26.559 are like in the same area and you have a 299 00:16:26.600 --> 00:16:29.919 lot of similar looking little brown toads with warts other 300 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:33.200 than the wartz per spot certain species. Yeah, no, it's yeah, 301 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:35.320 it's it's warts per spot. So like in the like 302 00:16:35.480 --> 00:16:39.919 dark brown spot, there'll be like two or three warts 303 00:16:39.960 --> 00:16:42.639 if it's an American toad, and then if it's a 304 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:45.639 Fowler's toad or something or woodhouses toad, they'll have more 305 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:49.559 in each like dark spot. And then there's like the 306 00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:52.960 shape of the parotoid glands, which are the things that 307 00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:55.799 produce like behind their eyes, that produce that more of 308 00:16:55.840 --> 00:17:00.559 the toxic secretion, and then those little crests and and 309 00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:04.960 ridges and everything like they yeah, that's how they differentiate themselves. 310 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:07.160 But yeah, so they have these really cool skulls. Frogs 311 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:09.720 don't have that. Yeah, you think of them as like 312 00:17:09.720 --> 00:17:12.039 the cavemen. They're actually the ones that came later. 313 00:17:12.039 --> 00:17:15.839 You're gonna get a full toad back tattoo. There are 314 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:17.039 toads on all. 315 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:21.799 Continents everywhere except Australia, which right now is only being 316 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:23.519 overrun by the invasive cane toad. 317 00:17:23.880 --> 00:17:29.079 Oh really, yes, Australia got a little bit ripped off 318 00:17:29.279 --> 00:17:31.599 on the toad card and then they got pad. 319 00:17:31.680 --> 00:17:34.359 They got yeah kind of yeah, and they didn't used 320 00:17:34.359 --> 00:17:36.519 to be on Madagascar either, but now there's a different 321 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:41.480 toad that is found on Madagascar that's also super invasive 322 00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:44.559 and yeah, wreaking havoc. So yeah, Unfortunately, the toads that 323 00:17:44.599 --> 00:17:47.359 are finding their way to places where they never were, 324 00:17:47.400 --> 00:17:50.279 like the ones you just don't want to be there. 325 00:17:50.759 --> 00:17:53.680 Okay, let's loop around back real quick and talk about 326 00:17:53.720 --> 00:17:56.680 cane toads, shall we. Okay, great, So these are these 327 00:17:56.920 --> 00:18:00.279 huge ass toads. They're also called marine toads even though 328 00:18:00.279 --> 00:18:04.000 they're terrestrial. Lineas made like an oopsye daisy in the 329 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:07.559 seventeen hundreds about their habitat, but the largest recorded one 330 00:18:07.559 --> 00:18:11.200 measured over nine inches long. They look like holding a 331 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:15.000 big leathery pretzel roll, but with legs, and they are 332 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:20.079 college Stoner level hungry. They eat everything from like live bats, 333 00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:25.559 sometimes plants, to bugs, to dead animals to just straight 334 00:18:25.640 --> 00:18:31.440 up garbage, sometimes just literal actual garbage. Most scientists report 335 00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:34.720 they seem to give few, if any fucks, enabling them 336 00:18:34.839 --> 00:18:37.759 to get both large and in charge. They also have 337 00:18:38.200 --> 00:18:44.759 successful and very prolific mating strategies. So insummation cane toads 338 00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:48.279 they're like the Romans. They like to eat, they like 339 00:18:48.359 --> 00:18:50.960 to make love, and they're native to the Americas and 340 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:53.680 even South Texas, but they now live all over the 341 00:18:53.799 --> 00:18:57.480 damn place because in the nineteen thirties someone was like, hey, 342 00:18:57.559 --> 00:18:58.480 I got an idy. 343 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:01.799 Yeah, is like where they were growing sugar cane. They 344 00:19:01.799 --> 00:19:04.799 were they had brought them there to control like the bugs, 345 00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:06.880 you know that were eating the sugar cane. And then, 346 00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:09.279 of course, you know, anytime you bring a thing to 347 00:19:09.400 --> 00:19:11.920 control the thing that you don't want, then that thing goes, 348 00:19:12.119 --> 00:19:15.839 you know, crazy. So there are these big beefy marine toads, 349 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:17.839 and so they can live. They can tolerate like salt 350 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:21.759 water environments, but they also apparently can live all over 351 00:19:21.799 --> 00:19:24.440 the place, you know, on land, so they're like in 352 00:19:24.759 --> 00:19:28.960 vast swaths of Australia and all over Hawaii, they're in Florida. 353 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:31.799 Now, how do you control a cane toad population. 354 00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:35.759 It's proving to be really difficult. They have had some 355 00:19:35.880 --> 00:19:38.000 luck with I want to say, caffeine, where they're like 356 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:43.480 dropping caffeine or spraying caffeine. That has been effective in 357 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:46.160 some places in knocking down the population. And I think 358 00:19:46.279 --> 00:19:48.759 just generally they try to go and like you know, 359 00:19:48.839 --> 00:19:51.880 collect collect them up and then just you know, euthanize them. 360 00:19:52.039 --> 00:19:55.400 So yeah, that's pretty much. 361 00:19:55.480 --> 00:19:58.599 Yeah, So yes, some parts of the world have a 362 00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:02.000 real cane toad problem. Also, the beetles that they were 363 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:04.039 supposed to eat, they like to climb to the top 364 00:20:04.039 --> 00:20:06.559 of the sugar cane and the toads are like, it's 365 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:09.960 too high, No, RICI, I'll just eat this bird instead. 366 00:20:10.279 --> 00:20:13.880 So now Australia has a bunch of poisonous toads and 367 00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:19.000 sometimes people's dogs eat them and trip absolute balls or 368 00:20:19.160 --> 00:20:23.480 just die. Okay, but caffeine really as an agent for 369 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:29.000 toad assassinations. So okay, what happens is concentrated caffeine when 370 00:20:29.319 --> 00:20:33.680 sprayed around by a professional eco barista if you will, 371 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:38.839 causes amphibians to have heart attacks, and they well they 372 00:20:38.839 --> 00:20:42.440 croak dad word. Really toe the line with that one, kiddos, 373 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:46.039 Please don't stop listening. Okay, So concentrated caffeine it gives 374 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:50.200 them pretty much like lethal panic attacks. But one can 375 00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:53.759 spread coffee grounds in the garden and they might just 376 00:20:53.799 --> 00:20:57.319 get real buzzy and uncomfortable enough to just avoid the area, 377 00:20:57.599 --> 00:20:59.599 kind of like how I didn't go into a Starbucks 378 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:03.039 for a while after a venti induced anxiety meltdown. But 379 00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:06.480 this could also be just wicked mean to slugs and such, 380 00:21:06.599 --> 00:21:10.480 because caffeine is a plant's natural defense against getting munched 381 00:21:10.519 --> 00:21:12.440 on by a lot of critters. Also, this sent me 382 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:16.039 down a weird hole learning that a plant can poison 383 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:19.720 itself with its own caffeine. So the leaves drop, the 384 00:21:19.799 --> 00:21:22.480 caffeine leaches into the soil, and the plant is like, 385 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:26.319 oh nuts, I brought this on myself now, Okay, if 386 00:21:26.440 --> 00:21:30.480 killing animals makes you screamish, you could always just exploit 387 00:21:30.519 --> 00:21:34.720 them for profit and become a drug dealer. So Country 388 00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:39.119 Farm Lifestyle website offered up the advice of painting chloroform 389 00:21:39.519 --> 00:21:42.400 on the belly of a cane toad until they start 390 00:21:42.440 --> 00:21:46.480 oozing milky poison, and then, just like a pimple full 391 00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:50.599 of money, you can gently express their paratoid gland right 392 00:21:50.640 --> 00:21:53.559 behind their eyes. But watch your eyes. Wear some cool 393 00:21:53.599 --> 00:21:56.680 steampunk goggles or something so you don't get splat into 394 00:21:56.680 --> 00:21:59.039 on the eyeball and then wind up really crying over 395 00:21:59.079 --> 00:22:03.000 spilt milky white. Also quick aside within this aside a 396 00:22:03.079 --> 00:22:07.400 side seption if you will. Does Pria have a favorite toad? Yes, 397 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:09.839 she has a soft spot. She has a soft warty 398 00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:12.759 spot for American toads because they were the first she 399 00:22:12.839 --> 00:22:16.000 saw in the Midwest. But she did clarify that they 400 00:22:16.079 --> 00:22:19.839 no longer belong to the Buffo genus. North American toads 401 00:22:19.880 --> 00:22:23.519