Almost any hungry predator will find a plump toad to be a delicious and tasty meal. Because toads aren’t fleet or float and they prove to be a delicious meal to other forger animals. Nevertheless, toads are smart too. They are not going to allow themselves to get eaten so easily. Toads have a funny way to do this trick. For example, the Congolese giant toad of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is known as triple-cheeseburger-sized. To save himself, this toad manages to convert itself into a spitting figure of the deadliest snake of the region: the Gaboon viper. Here’s a deep insight into the life of this toad.
Defense mechanism technique
Many teams and international researchers worked on this illusion to find out the reality. In the Journal of Natural History, these researchers state that toad’s savvy skills are a form of Batesian imitation. It is a phenomenon in which a harmless animal learns to imitate the signals of a harmful species. This criterion is named after Henry Bates, a naturalist. This criterion is mainly used by small insects or animals to stay safe from large creatures, and it is a technique of self-defense.
There are only a few animals can pull off this creation successfully as the Congolese giant toad does. Eli Greenbaum, a co-author of the study in a press conference, said that they have been researching this topic for ten years. The toad imitates the venomous snake to avoid predators and stay safe.
Enactment
The toad imitates the venomous snake Gaboon viper as it is one of the most poisonous snakes but isn’t very aggressive. The Congolese giant toad enjoys the reputation of Gaboon viper by imitating it. But how did the Congolese giant toad find this extraordinary inspiration?
Well, many researchers conducted their studies on the toads in the wild. It is noticeable in the studies that the toads have two dark brown spots and a stripe at the back. It already looked a lot like the taggings of the viper.
Gifted by nature
The Congolese giant toad is gifted this technique of self-defense by nature. The skin of the Congolese toad is also exceptionally smooth for its kind. It can even mimic the behavior of the viper. As when the viper is threatened, it is known to raise its head, hiss loud and quick bite. The researchers have seen the same behavior pattern in the Congolese giant toad, and the only exception is the bite. As per the research team member Chifundera Kusamba’s observation, the toad imitates the venomous snake in all aspects and characteristics.
The exceptional smartness of the toad
The technique of self-defense in toads is a gift of nature that makes them exceptionally smart. The giant toad figures out the location of the viper in the region and stays there frequently as the animals might suspect the mimicry if they haven’t seen the venomous snake in the same region before. All these facts make the giant toad method actor who lives in character every day.
