Toad song in the canyon
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Duration: 01:30Ambient
Commentary
Filesize: About 53 MB
Resolution: 1280x720
Ambient
Commentary
Filesize: About 29 MB
Resolution: 854x480
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Popular
04 Nov, 2007
A close look shows how the animal uses air to create noise.
At night, the Blyde Canyon in Mpumalanga, South Africa is a huge, dark, majestic presence. Tonight we visited a small mountain pond on the northeastern slopes.
We were met by an enormously vigorous chorus of frog or toad croaking. But when we got too close, there was sudden and absolute quiet.
The amphibians quickly acclimatised to human presence and, before long, resumed their nocturnal concert.
They gradually moved closer to our single light and then appeared to sing into it. This was when we were able to identify them as olive toads.
There was a nuance and shift in the song, one toad picking up where the other left off, changing tone and volume in response to the voice of the other.
A close look at these creatures reveals the exquisite detail of their form and colour. Notice the detail on the skin and the movement of air in through the nostrils, which are then blocked by a little valve while the toad inflates its throat pouch to croak.
Toads serve as valuable environmental indicators, often being the first species to suffer from environmental degradation.
– by Paul Myburgh, Earth-Touch crew © Earth-Touch
More about this clip
Country: South Africa
Habitat: Deciduous or Evergreen Forest, Blyde River Canyon
Location: Blyde Canyon, South Africa
Tags: Toad, Amphibian, Song, Croak, Olive, Drakensberg, Environment, Indicate, Voice, Skin, Nostril, Valve, Throat, Pond, Expedition footage, Olive toad, Amphibians, Vertebrates, Blyde canyon, South Africa, South Africa, Africa, Blyde River Canyon, Deciduous or Evergreen Forest
