The frogs of the First Million-Part I

 Frogs are the main focus of this project, hence why the project's name is "Batrachiterra" which roughly translates to "Frog Earth". In the next two weeks we will see how frogs diversified in the first million of years since humans abandoned the planet, from the West to the East we will have a look at some of the anurans from the continents of Bufia, Batrachia and Incilia.

Bufia

 The continent of Bufia is heavily forested, its position in between the southern Horse Lattitude and the Southern Polar Front makes it get hit by the warm currents that create a Mediterranean climate in the West of the continent. This position aids even more in the climate of Bufia as the Winds that come from the South bring humidity further inland. The result is a Continent whith dense forest cover.

Uncommon toads

There was only one frog species seeded on the continent, the Common toad, Bufo bufo. Like all other species of frogs and most of the other seedlings(Animals, fungi and plants seeded) they passed through the process of Adaptive radiation, in which organisms evolve into new niches after new resources are added to their environment. In our context the frogs were added to a new environment.

Bufo gigas, the Giant toad

These toads evolved a larger head and body size(20 cm SVL) compared to the ancestral toad due to abundant prey and lack of competition. They also have smaller Paratoid glands due to lack of predators as these toads are the largest on the continent.

Bufo viridiverruca, the Green wart toad

These toads have a different behavior compared to its relatives. They have webbing between their toes that extend further compared to their more terrestrial ancestral. This is due to their semi-aquatic habits, spending most of their lives underwater. Green wart toads hunt(as most frogs) anything that fits in their mouth, this includes tadpoles of other species, to avoid accidentaly consuming their own tadpoles the males of this species will defend the larvae who will follow it around.

Bufo stracus, the Spike butt toad

The final toad of today, the Spike butt toad is another toad that deviates from the ancestral toad. They are fossorial and dig burrows in which they live, they hunt the occasional earthworm inside their burrows, but mainly forage during night above ground. Their names comes from a curious adaptation, this species has two pointy "warts" in the region of their ischium used to war off predators that may enter their burrows.