02 April 2010

Found Him


Hope you remember the leaf litter, I posted a few weeks back, and most of you identified a frog like pattern there.

Yesterday, our ornithology and wildlife expert, Gallicissa identified that toad as a rare species. I will quote his exact words below.

‘What you have photographed is a high-profile amphibian in Sri Lanka, which is endemic and scarce.

It was discovered only in 1998 by eminent Sri Lankan biologists, Kelum Nalinda Manamendra-Arachchi and Rohan Pethiyagoda from Koskulana near Panapola. It has been christened as Noellert's Toad, Bufo noellerti in honour of the German Herpatologist/Batrachologist, Andreas Noellert.

Noellert's Toad looks similar to the Common House Toad aka Asiatic House Toad Bufo melanostictus (Schneider, 1799) that you and I get in our houses and home gardens. However, it can be told apart by using numerous features. The main one that I used to tell this species from the commoner cousin, often found sympatrically, is the absence of 2 pairs of inter-paratoid warts in this species, which is present in Asiatic House Toad. The paratoid gland FYI, are the elevated and elongated sections on each side of the dorsal surface seen behind the eyes.’

My gratitude goes to Amila, as without him above creature would be just another toad!

31 comments:

Christina, Sweden said...

Always interesting to get the story behind things. The photo is really sharp and shows his skin very well....not the most beautiful one but sure shows his great camouflage

Christina, Sweden

Me-shak said...

wow, How cool is that! You actually found some one lots of people try to meet :D
Cool K!
Great pictures, looking forward for more ;)
Cheers!

Kirigalpoththa said...

Christina,
Yes, although they say, picture tells 1000 words, words definitely add more into the picture.
Thanks a lot for your comments!

Me-shak,
Yes he is a VIP whom I accidently met :) Thanks a lot for your comments!

Amila Salgado said...

Thank you K!

The last sentence should read as "The paratoid gland FYI, are the elevated and elongated sections on each side of the dorsal surface seen behind the eyes"

I have emphasised the crucial missing word.

Kirigalpoththa said...

Gallicissa,
Corrected. I too missed it :O
Thanks a lot :)

Magerata said...

Wonders! Gallicissa is brilliant, I recently discovered his blog and going through it now. I am learning from him like I learn from you. I have to respect, at least look more closely at toads now. Usually I run away from them!

Lady divine said...

wow! that is amazing!

eileeninmd said...

Great post and how cool to be able to see the rare toad. Great shot! So happy you found him/her!

George said...

Congratulations on getting such a wonderful picture of a rare toad. Thanks for the information.

Loshini said...

sri lanka has a lot of endemic animal species, doesn't it? Always leaves me surprised..

Upclose he looks like he's wearing the skin of a jackfruit or durian :O

Μαριανα said...

oh, bravo for your re-discover! Interesting information that this specie was found only in 1998.
It seems to me like a small happy frog, i hope he isnt dangerous though. :p


Happy Eastern from Mediterranean!

Diane AZ said...

It is very exciting to get such a great photo of a rare toad. Congratulations!

Naquillity said...

how wonderful you photographed an endemic/ scarce species. you must be elated. not everyday one stumbles upon such a find. great job. have a great weekend.

Kirigalpoththa said...

Magerata,
Yes he is brilliant and you can find so much of interesting information on wildlife and some fabulous pictures in his blog!

Lady Divine,
Thanks a lot and nice to see you here :D

Eileen,
Thanks, I saw your Costa Rica photos. Cool!

George,
Thanks and you are welcome :D

Loshini,
Sinharaja is a small area with so many endemic flora and fauna.
Yes he has a very thorny skin. May be a warning to his predators :)

Μαριανα,
Thanks! No he is very innocent, Dangerous for flies and little bugs only :)

Diane,
Thanks a lot! Yes I'm glad I saw him :)

Naquillity,
Yep, it was a chance! Glad I found him :D

Thanks all for your wonderful comments!!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Wow K, You are so lucky to have captured a picture of the rare toad... Congrats....That is so neat!
Betsy

Kirigalpoththa said...

Thanks Betsy :D

Harshi said...

That's a rare capture. Toads and lizards are so good at camouflaging, so we almost miss them. If this lil guy didn't have a big tummy I'd have surely thought it was a lizard, cause of its skin texture. =D

Also thanks for quoting G's comprehensive description too.

Harshi said...

PS: Just noticed the change in the header image. That slide show looks awesome.

Penny Says said...

takes me back to a level days when i had to memorize all those scientific names of toads and frogs and ...lots of insects...refreshing memories...but congrats on your discovery..keep on finding things...:)

rainfield61 said...

I am so glad that the creature is not just another toad, but what it is now? lol.

Rajesh said...

Wonderful shot of rare species and very informative.

Janith said...

wow, looks like you photographed a jackpot K! :D I think the word is 'Serendipity'? :D

Kirigalpoththa said...

Harumi,
yes both lizards and toads know how to mingle with nature. I'm quite amazed with Gallicissa's knowledge on wildlife. Glad you like the header. I used normal slide show gadget of blogger. But I want to improve the resolution but don't know how :)

Penny,
Thanks.. I never learnt about those things in my school days as I was not into biology. So this is whole new experience for me :)

Rainfield,
Good question! It is now elevated to the rank of VVIP of toads :)

Rajesh,
Thanks and you are welcome!

Chavie,
Thanks. Yes that is a very appropriate word! :)

Thanks all for your comments.

Rick (Ratty) said...

It must give a special feeling to find such a rare creature. I think if I found something so rare I would never know what it is.

betchai said...

what a beautiful picture of the toad, i can see the details. and to think it is very scarce, you are lucky to have seen and captured it.

Harshi said...

Ya, his knowledge might be on a par with a professor's. =D

About the slide show, there are lots of widgets on the net giving better resolutions.. though some of them have annoying animations. I used to have a good one with nice transitions but now I've lost the link to it. Will let you know if I find it again.

Kirigalpoththa said...

Ratty,
I too didn't know it is a rare one until Amila pointed it to me :D
Thanks a lot for your comments!

Betchai,
Many thanks for your comments!

Harumi,
He is my professor of wildlife!
Thanks a lot for the information on slideshow widgets and your new post is very helpful :D

Crafty Green Poet said...

what a handsome toad, well done on finding such a rarity!

Kirigalpoththa said...

Crafty Green Poet,
Thanks for dropping by and for your comments! :D

Nicole said...

Glad you could ID him properly and lucky you for finding this species!
You got a great shot of the Beauty as well :)

Kirigalpoththa said...

Nicole,
Thanks very much! :)