actualarishok asked: And now I find I'm curious about the Surinam toad. How could it be weird enough to be a runner up to genetically identical vertebrates?
IT INCUBATES ITS BABIES UNDER THE MOM’S SKIN AND THEN THEY BURST THROUGH JUST LIKE IN ALIEN.
so yeah, this post comes with a big ol’ trypophobia warning. I’m actually going to save some of the pictures for the end because I kid you not over the summer I saw somebody see one of these in an aquarium and then run to the bathroom to vomit. The first picture will be the normal toad. If randomly-placed holes in organic objects freak you out, do not click the read more.
Ahem. Here we go.
Pipa pipa, the common Surinam toad or the star-fingered toad, is an extremely flat, brown toad that resembles nothing as much as a dead leaf. It has tiny eyes and actually can’t sit up; it must remain constantly in a splayed position.
During courtship, the female releases eggs; the movements of the male during amplexus actually shove these things in her back where they embed and stay. They sink and form pockets and a thin layer of skin grows over them. She carries them around on her back until they’re little toadlets- not tadpoles, toadlets- and then they emerge, fully formed. She then sheds the layer of skin that held them in place and goes off on her merry way… until next year, when the whole process starts again.
Also they don’t have any tongues. Weird.
Here you can see some young toads emerging from their mother’s back.
And in case you want to see what that looks like, here’s a clip of that happening: