| Dhofar toad | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Family: | Bufonidae |
| Genus: | Firouzophrynus |
| Species: | F. dhufarensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Firouzophrynus dhufarensis (Parker, 1931) | |
| Synonyms | |
Bufo dhufarensis | |
The Dhofar toad or Oman toad (Firouzophrynus dhufarensis) is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to the Arabian Peninsula and is found in Oman, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
The Dhofar toad is a small species and is quite variable in appearance, being greenish or some shade of brown and either uniformly coloured or mottled and speckled with darker markings. The tympanum, just behind and below the bulging eyes, is large, which contrasts with the Arabian toad, the only other amphibian with which it is likely to be confused, which has a small tympanum. The call of the male at breeding time is a sharp "kra-kra-kra", and this contrasts with the "rusty hinge" sound made by the Arabian toad. The latter is less likely to be found far away from water bodies. [2] [3]
One of only nine species of amphibian in the Arabian Peninsula, [2] the Dhofar toad is found in Yemen, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It is also present on the Farasan Islands and other islands, and its altitudinal range is from sea level up to about 2,000 m (6,600 ft). [1] Its typical habitat is wet places, springs, pools, streams, canals, ditches, irrigated land, gardens and oases, but it is sometimes found far from any permanent water. [2]
This toad is largely nocturnal and feeds mostly on insects. It reacts to drought conditions by burying itself in the ground and aestivating, which it has been known to do for up to three years. When heavy rain falls, it emerges to feed and makes its way to nearby water bodies where the males call to attract the females. The eggs are laid in strings and the tadpoles develop with great rapidity before the ephemeral water sources dry up. [2]
The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed this toad's conservation status as being of "least concern" on the basis of its "wide distribution, tolerance of a degree of habitat modification, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category." [1]
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The Arabian Peninsula, or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. At 3,237,500 km2 (1,250,000 sq mi), comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world.
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Blanford's fox is a small fox native to West Asia, Central Asia and parts of South Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
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The Arabian partridge is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae, native to the southern Arabian Peninsula. Two subspecies are recognised, A. m. melanocephala and A. m. guichardi. It sometimes hybridises with Philby's partridge and with the rock partridge.
Ansonia malayana is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is also known as Malayan slender toad, Malaya stream toad, and pigmy false toad. It is found on the Malay Peninsula, from the Kra Isthmus (Thailand) southward to Peninsular Malaysia. However, its precise distribution in Thailand is poorly known as it may have been confused with Ansonia kraensis, described as a new species in 2005; it may also represent more than one species.
The Arabian toad is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to the Arabian Peninsula and is found in Oman, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
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The Dhofar Mountains are a mountain range in the southeastern part of the Arabian Peninsula. In a broad sense, they extend from Dhofar Governorate in Oman to Hadhramaut Governorate in Yemen, and are located between the Hajar in the northern part of Oman, and the Sarawat in the western part of Yemen. Otherwise, the range in the eastern part of Yemen, particularly near Mukalla, is referred to as the Hadhramaut or "Mahrat".
The Southwestern Arabian foothills savanna, also known as the Southwestern Arabian Escarpment shrublands and woodlands, is a desert and xeric shrubland ecoregion of the southern Arabian Peninsula, covering portions of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Oman.
Acanthocercus adramitanus, also known commonly as Anderson's rock agama or the Hadramaut agama, is a small species of lizard in the family Agamidae. The species is endemic to the Arabian Peninsula.
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