The Crucifix Toad or Holy Cross Frog (Notaden bennettii) is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n, fossorial

Fossorial

A fossorial organism is one that is adapted to digging and life underground such as the badger, the naked mole rat, and the mole salamanders Ambystomatidae...

 frog

Frog

Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...

. It is one of the few Australian frogs to display aposematism

Aposematism

Aposematism , perhaps most commonly known in the context of warning colouration, describes a family of antipredator adaptations where a warning signal is associated with the unprofitability of a prey item to potential predators...

. It is native to wastern New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, and south western Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

.

Physical description

The Crucifix Toad is the most distinctive species of frog within the Notaden

Notaden

Notaden is a genus of burrowing ground frogs native to central and northern Australia.- Description :Its body is very round in shape with a short neck. Its pupils are horizontal slits. It has long arms and short, stubby legs. Its fingers lack webbing and its toes may have slight to no webbing. ...

genus. Whereas most Notaden frogs are dark brown in colour, the Crucifix Toad exhibits many bright colours. Its dorsal surface is bright yellow, with a cross of many colours centered on the back. The cross is outlined with large, black dots, and filled with white, black and red dots. The ventral surface is white, and the flank's blue.

The Crucifix Toad is a small, and very round frog. Its nose is blunt, and legs and feet are small. As this species is fossorial, the tympanum is hidden. Males reach a length of 6.3 centimetres (2.5 in), and females a length of 6.8 centimetres (2.7 in). The species feet have little "spades" to help them burrow deeply.

Ecology and behaviour

The Crucifix Toad is a ground dwelling frog, which inhabits the arid areas of western New South Wales and Queensland. To survive long periods without water, the Crucifix Toad will bury itself underground and encase itself in a cocoon. Upon very heavy rain, they will emerge from the ground, and begin breeding in temporary ponds. The males call from within the pond to attract the female. The call is a "woop". The development of the tadpole is rapid so as to take advantage of the wet conditions and reducing the risk of them dying from the pond drying up. The cycle is so quick it can be over in six weeks.

The frog exudes a tacky and elastic "frog glue" onto its dorsal skin when provoked. Its purpose is uncertain; it may be intended to confuse and deter predators such as snakes, or to trap biting insects (which would later be consumed when the frog sheds and eats its skin). Male Crucafix Toads have been documented to use this glue to attach themselves onto the larger females during mating. The glue has been found to be stronger than available non-toxic medical adhesive

Adhesive

An adhesive, or glue, is a mixture in a liquid or semi-liquid state that adheres or bonds items together. Adhesives may come from either natural or synthetic sources. The types of materials that can be bonded are vast but they are especially useful for bonding thin materials...

s and is the subject of further study. The glue is a protein

Protein

Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

-based pressure-sensitive adhesive

Pressure sensitive adhesive

Pressure sensitive adhesive is adhesive which forms a bond when pressure is applied to marry the adhesive with the adherend...

 that functions even in wet conditions.

The Crucifix Toad's diet primarily consists of ant

Ant

Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...

s and termite

Termite

Termites are a group of eusocial insects that, until recently, were classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera , but are now accepted as the epifamily Termitoidae, of the cockroach order Blattodea...

s.