spadefoot
- noun
- /ˈspeɪdˌfʊt/
- UK
- Cannibalistic spadefoot toad tadpoles, for instance, are less likely to avoid eating siblings when they are hungry than when they have just eaten (Figure 4).
- spadefoot toad
- spadefoot toad tadpoles
Examples
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How long it takes tadpoles to develop for spadefoot toads and this is their body length when they come out of the pond.
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And here I thought all you cared about was the Western Spadefoot because their secretions smell like peanut butter and can cause sneezing.
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Well, I did it for the Western Spadefoot.
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That kind of activity is devastating to the habitat of the Western Spadefoot!
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In reality, Tayo's soul, as a reflection of the spirit of the pueblo people, can be compared to the desert Spadefoot Toad.
Academic text (1990) -
Spadefoot toad tadpoles possess a unique means of acquiring extra nourishment, thereby hastening development (Pfennig 1992).
Academic text (1997) -
The strongest support for this prediction comes from spadefoot toads, Spea, a desert-dwelling amphibian genus that breeds in rain-filled pools in western North America.
Academic text (1997) -
In two recent tests of this hypothesis, tiger salamander larvae and spadefoot toad tadpoles were found to be significantly more likely to express the cannibal phenotype in mixed sibship groups.
Academic text (1997) -
The spadefoot toad uses its strong hind feet to dig burrows in the sandy soil.
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During spring rains, the spadefoot toad emerges from its underground hideout to breed.
Synonyms
A small animal like a frog with a thick body and dry, bumpy skin
A toad that digs using a hard, spade-shaped part on each back foot
A small toad that lives in the plains and river valleys of central North America east of the Rocky Mountains
A small toad that lives in dry plains, digs holes, and breeds in temporary pools
A small toad from California that burrows and has spade-shaped feet
A California toad that burrows and makes a loud call
A toad with spade-shaped feet that digs and lives underground in dry parts of the southwestern United States
A small toad with spade-shaped back feet that lives in dry parts of the southwestern United States
Compounds
- Specialized
A small toad that lives in the plains and river valleys of central North America east of the Rocky Mountains
A small toad with spade-shaped back feet that lives in dry parts of the southwestern United States
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Spadefoot comes from the simple words spade and foot. The toad's back foot has a hard, 'spade'-shaped part like a small garden spade for digging, so a spadefoot is a toad that digs into the ground with its 'spade' foot.