Oak toad

The oak toad (Anaxyrus quercicus) is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to the coastal regions of southeastern United States. It is regarded as the smallest species of toad in North America, with a length of 19 to 33 mm (0.75 to 1.30 in).

Description

The oak toad can be identified by its light mid-dorsal stripe, variable brown and black spots, and proportionally large parotoid glands. One of the most remarkable features of this species is its small adult size relative to other toads.

The male can be distinguished from the female by its clear white belly and a slightly distended, loose flap of skin beneath the mouth, which expands into the vocal sac. The female has a dark-spotted belly and lacks a vocal sac.

Habitat and distribution

The oak toad's natural habitat includes sandy pine flatwoods and oak scrub, open pine and pine-oak woods, pine or oak savanna with sandy soils, and maritime forests. They appear to favor open-canopied pine flatwoods with grassy ground cover.

Toad

A toad is any of a number of species of amphibians in the order Anura (frogs) that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and parotoid glands.

Biology

A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scientific taxonomy, but is common in popular culture (folk taxonomy), in which toads are associated with drier skin and more terrestrial habitats than animals commonly called frogs. In scientific taxonomy, toads are found in the families Bufonidae, Bombinatoridae, Discoglossidae, Pelobatidae, Rhinophrynidae, Scaphiopodidae, and Microhylidae. There is no definitive collective noun for toads, and like most collective nouns, the listed proposals are fanciful; one example is a knot of toads; others include a lump, nest, or knob of toads.

The function of the bumps on the skins of toads has been speculated to be to help the animal to blend more effectively into its environment by breaking up its visual outline. Usually the largest of the bumps are those that cover the parotoid glands. The bumps commonly are referred to as "warts", but this is fanciful; they have nothing to do with warts, being fixed in size, present on healthy specimens and are not a result of infection or injury.

Toad (comics)

Toad (Mortimer Toynbee) is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is most often depicted as an enemy of the X-Men, and was originally a weak, hunchbacked mutant, with a superhuman leaping ability. He was Magneto's sniveling servant in the 1960s line-up of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. He eventually led his own version of the Brotherhood, which was more involved in petty crime than mutant liberation.

Ray Park played a significantly different version of Toad in 2000's X-Men film. He was cocky and sarcastic and his superhuman leaping ability, agility, toxic saliva, prehensile tongue and wall-scaling abilities made him a match for several X-Men. Aspects of this Toad have since been implemented into the comic book version. Subsequently, most versions of Toad written or drawn after 2000 resemble the Ray Park version more closely than the original Toad. A younger Toad appears in the film X-Men: Days of Future Past, played by Evan Jonigkeit.

Toad (album)

Toad is the eponymous debut album by the Swiss rock band of the same name. It was engineered by legendary British producer Martin Birch. After the recording finished, singer Benjamin Jaeger left the group and was not replaced.

Track listing

Personnel

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus (/ˈkwɜːrkəs/;Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 600 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus. The genus is native to the Northern Hemisphere, and includes deciduous and evergreen species extending from cool temperate to tropical latitudes in the Americas, Asia, Europe, and North Africa. North America contains the largest number of oak species, with approximately 90 occurring in the United States. Mexico has 160 species, of which 109 are endemic. The second greatest center of oak diversity is China, which contains approximately 100 species.

Oaks have spirally arranged leaves, with lobate margins in many species; some have serrated leaves or entire leaves with smooth margins. Many deciduous species are marcescent, not dropping dead leaves until spring. In spring, a single oak tree produces both male flowers (in the form of catkins) and small female flowers. The fruit is a nut called an acorn, borne in a cup-like structure known as a cupule; each acorn contains one seed (rarely two or three) and takes 6–18 months to mature, depending on species. The live oaks are distinguished for being evergreen, but are not actually a distinct group and instead are dispersed across the genus.

Oak (RTD)

Oak is an RTD light rail station in Lakewood, Colorado, United States. The station is part of the new W Line which was built as part of the FasTracks expansion. It opened in April, 2013 and is operated by the Regional Transportation District.

References

Oak (CTA station)

Oak was a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's North Side Main Line, which is now part of the Brown Line. The station was located at 319 W. Oak Street in the Near North Side neighborhood of Chicago. Oak was situated south of Division, which closed at the same time as Oak, and north of Chicago. Oak opened in 1906 and closed on August 1, 1949, along with 22 other stations as part of a CTA service revision.

References