Faceless Toad

April 4, 2018 admin 2

(photo by Jill Fleming) We have all heard of toads, but have you ever heard of a faceless toad? Scientists out in Connecticut discovered a faceless toad hopping around.  Jill Fleming, a herpotologist (a person that studies amphibians), and her colleagues were out in the forest studying the environment and out of no where, a faceless toad hopped into Jill’s foot.  Jill noticed that the toad continued hopping into Jill’s foot, but was not able to hop over her foot.  When she observed the toad closer, she realized that the toad did not have its eyes, nose, jaw, or tongue. Jill and her colleagues do not know why the toad is missing its face, but they do believe that the toad might have lost its face from an attack, such as a snake attack.  Snakes are known predators to toads and other amphibians.  The real question is how was the toad able to still hop around and be as active as it was?  How could a toad lose its whole face and still be alive?  We’d love to hear what your guesses are in the comments below! To learn more about the faceless toad, visit news.nationalgeographic.com.