#paratoad

an outbreak of monster toads has been spotted!!

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My phylogeny of frog monsters as of the release of wilds

The toxin toads: The most basal of this family of monstrous amphibians, these creatures can be found in a variety of habitats and take the chemical defenses common among frogs to the next level. Of the four species known, three can spew an aerosolized concoction from their mouths in self-defense, with the fourth regurgitating an explosive chyme. These toxins are potent enough to affect creatures hundreds of times their size upon contact, making them a handy species for hunters to use. It’s currently thought that these toxins are synthesized from their diet of bugs.

These creatures are, despite their basal position, already very distinct from other frogs. The genus has two sails supported by bony extensions of the ribs, a feature unique to them, which supports a dense network of blood vessels that can be constricted. This feature can be used to thermoregulate in the wide variety of environments they can be found in, constricting and reducing blood flow in cold environments to retain heat and flushing with blood to vent heat in hot environments.

The toxin toads also have very short tails, which is a feature common amongst this family. This is actually very weird for a frog as ordinarily they re-absorb their tails when transitioning from a tadpole to an adult, and genes responsible for the particular shape of the hip bones in frogs is also intrinsically linked with the re-absorption of the tail in their tadpole stage. The re-absorption of the tail allows for the specialized muscles and unique hip structure that allows frogs to jump to be present. Because of this, you can only really have one or the other.

It could be possible that the tails of the monster frogs could be extensions of the colon like the Tailed Frog, but we don’t see them squash or stretch like a boneless appendage and instead move like they have a rigid support structure. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they have vertebrae in their tails, but this is the logical conclusion. And if they are true tails then that implies that this family either descend from very early frogs or stem-frogs, splitting off before the loss of the tail as adults became hard baked into the genome of other frogs. This would also imply that their hips, and by extension how they leap, is very different from other frogs.

Armored frogs

Thorntoad: Amphibians native to the citadel and by extension the mega-forest it once was, in self defense they vomit noxious chemicals into the faces of attackers. This isn’t all too different from the toxin toads, implying that this could be an ancestral trait to the family.

Two defining features of this species are their long flexible tongues and armor.

Despite what is seen in media, frog tongues are not long or especially flexible. They are actually short and situated at the front of the mouth folded backwards, and when a frog opens its mouth to grab something the tongue flips forward into a more normal position to slap the prey item with its stickiness. So for a frog to have a long flexible tongue like that of say an anteater is rather fascinating, and could imply a diet specializing in animals that make small burrows. Unable to dig prey up, it simply sends its tongue down to probe for it.

The osteoderms, which are common among the monster frogs, is also strange as frogs famously lack scales. But that isn’t to say that they are unfamiliar with doing strange things with their skin, as many species have hard bony skin around the face and shoulders, and Leptobrachium boringii males can grow a mustache of keratinous spines during mating season. In a land with dragons and dinosaurs, large frogs might be pressured into dermal protection.

Chatacabra: Monstrous frogs with long tongues and upright limbs native to deserts. Chatacabra are perhaps most unique for their body plan that has converged with the cursorial old world monkeys such as Blagonga and Rajang, and they seem to have near similar range of movement in their limbs and can even knuckle walk. What could have possibly caused such an adaptation in a frog is unclear. While a more upright body posture would keep the underside off the hot sand, the arms are subject to guesswork. The unique range of arm movements in primates is a result of their arboreality and brachiation movements, so it could be possible that the ancestors of Chatacabra were arboreal.

The long tongue of Chatacabra seems to be a holdover from more basal armored frogs, and while still used for prey capture, is also used to smear the forelimbs with sticky mucus. This same mucus is used to attach rocks to their forelimbs to make their attacks more damaging to anything willing to attack them.

Three features present in Chatacabra are common to the rest of the monstrous frogs and is worth bringing up here. Teeth on the mandibles, claws, and supporting the organs without a ribcage.

Frogs lack teeth on their bottom jaws as they lost the genes for them 200 million years ago, but it is not impossible for the monstrous frogs to have re-evolved them. The frog Gastrotheca guentheri managed to do it, likely because the genes that tell teeth were to grow are tied to the genes for gums. Claws are also not impossible for a frog when faced with the right pressure, as the African Clawed Frog has keratinous extensions on three of its toes it uses for prey processing.

Frogs also don’t have a rib cage, and ordinarily this limits how big they can get as past a certain size their organs might threaten to fall out of their body or get jostled around. But the monstrous frogs get around this with very well developed obliquus externus and rectus abdominis muscles with a high amount of elastin to prevent damage when getting jostled around. They also have hypertrophied procoracoids, sternums, and xiphisternums to further mimic a proper ribcage.

In the desert there is rarely large long lasting water bodies for tadpoles, so Chatacabra had to develop a work-around. Much like Rain Frogs, Chatacabra mothers will dig a hole for her to lay eggs in, and these eggs will give birth to miniature fully formed Chatas via a process called direct development.

Tetranadon: Amphibians that can be found in river systems in more eastern parts of the world, Tetras are unique for their hard turtle-like shell and beak.

The species spends most time submerged and inactive for long stretches of time, as long wisps of algae are commonly seen growing off their bodies. They occasionally experience periods of activity where they forage along the bottom of water bodies, shuffling through the muck with their fleshy bill. This bill is lined with electroreceptors like a platypus, and they use it to detect prey, particularly a species of freshwater slug called Goocumbers, which is their preferred prey. Upon detection a Tetranadon then ravenously scarfs down its meal, along with the surrounding water and dirt.

The shell of a Tetranadon is composed of many large fused osteoderms, but unlike a turtle shell it is completely separate from the ribs and vertebrae. Tetranadon are also capable of standing and moving upright, and can even pick up objects with their forelimbs.

Tetsucabra: Possibly the most famous genus within this froggy family, Tetsucabra are a common sight in habitats with rocky terrain.

The species is fossorial, and creates elaborate dens and tunnels with their large claws and massive tusks. Their skulls are notoriously robust and their tusks and brows give them an intimidating appearence. They are equipped with rather flat peg shaped teeth, and this coupled with the fact they are capable of eating grains and rice indicates an omnivorous diet. Tetsu are also smart enough to be trained and tamed individuals exist, although they are very food motivated creatures.

If their powerful legs and massive jumps are unable to carry them to safety, their tough hide and powerful bite can deter attackers. They can even manipulate boulders with their mouths and toss them as well as spit a noxious substance much like the Thorn Toad and Toxin Toads.

During the breeding season male Tetsucabra fight violently for females like African Bullfrogs. A successful male will then dig out a nursery for his offspring that he maintains diligently.

Inflatable frogs

Zamitrios: Arctic amphibians known for their striking appearance, massive maw, and rapid metamorphic lifecycle. Zamitrios is part of the inflatable frog group, which have had drastic modifications to their respiratory system. No longer relying on buccal pumping, these frogs have a unidirectional respiratory system and numerous air sacs.

The primary species of Zamtrios is found around the polar seaway and its surrounding environments, and deals with the temperatures through antifreeze compounds in the blood and gigantothermy. The species is aquatic, swimming with powerful webbed feet and a fluked tail after prey which they dispatch via shark-like jaws and teeth. But they need to be careful not to fall prey to other monsters such as the massive parave Ukanlos.

They drink seawater, and their specialized kidneys can filter out the salt. In self defense they can spray some of their water reserves along with bits of liquid nitrogen from groves along their hide. In the freezing temperatures of their habitat this instantly freezes over their body to form ice armor. If that fails they can suck in a bunch of air to inflate numerous air sacs and make themselves look bigger.

Zamtrios tadpoles are already born with forelimbs and have large jagged cranial horns. They target large animals and drill into their hides to eat them alive from the inside, and then rapidly metabolize their meals to grow into subadults. Subadults are very similar to juveniles but have proper hind limbs. This rapid growth is a defensive mechanism, as without parental care it is in a juvenile’s best interest to grow big quickly since in such harsh arctic environments any predator is willing to make a quick snack of them.

There exists a desert dwelling subspecies that, as a water retention adaptation, has lost the ability to create ice armor.

Tricktoad: A small member of the family that takes the inflatable abilities of Zamtrios to the next level. Methane is retained from their digestive system and deposited in some of their air sacs to float. They then use various fins to (clumsily) propel themselves. In self defense they can secrete a substance that smells good to large predators before making a hasty getaway in hopes of eliminating a would-be predator.

Yama Tsukami: Traditionally put in the slight wastebasket taxon that is the elder dragon class, its placement here is controversial. Not much is known about the species, but they are incredibly unusual animals.

Yama spend very long periods of time on the forest floor of the forests and jungles they call home, long enough that flora grows on their skin and adds a layer of camouflage, however many of these species of flora are only found on Yama Tsukamis. Occasionally Yama experience periods of activity where they proceed to quite literally inhale plants and any animals not fast enough to escape its massive maw, which is equipped with massive human-like teeth and sharp papillae perfect for processing woody material. Once masticated, the slop is retained in the massive oral cavity and bathed in saliva. The lower layers of slop, cut off from oxygen by spit and the top layers, undergoes anaerobic decomposition and ferments, releasing methane. These gases are absorbed by the gums. Eventually it actually swallows the food and it passes to the stomach, which bathes it in acid but doesn't do much else as Yama is a hindgut fermenter. The intestines do most of the nutrient absorption and absorb more gas.

Yama ancestrally was warm blooded and a unidirectional breather, but has become secondarily cold blooded and a tidal breather. Methane from the digestive system is retained in the air sacs (and colon) for floatation. Instead of swimming like Tricktoads, Yama use jet propulsion and vent breaths and methane through pores and gill vents connected to the esophageal crop for propulsion. These gill vents may be homologous to the vents on Zamtrios. So reliant are Yama on floating for movement that the muscles in their limbs have atrophied and their skeleton isn’t ossified outside of their jaws as a weight saving adaptation. If they ever find themselves grounded they are incapable of movement until able to re-inflate.

Yama may have had a marine ancestor with ichthyosaur-like limbs, with absurd amounts of finger bones. But over time they developed loose and stretchy tendons, muscles, and nerves, and their air sacs invaded their limbs. The result is a very stiff “tentacle” capable of limited bending in any direction and extension.

Yama is typically slow metabolically, and stays warm due to gigantothermy and fermentation, but can rapidly accelerate its metabolism when pushed to. They have also convergently evolved elder dragon blood much like the rhino Kirin and cuttlefish Nakarkos, presumably for temperature control and to fight off infections as Yama’s digestive system is a breeding ground for disease. Yama also make a dragon rich black sludge partially composed of low oxygen blood that is vital for the plants endemic to its back, but for what purpose is currently unknown.

Great thunder bugs live symbiotically with Yama and nest in their mouth, back, and colon. They eat scraps and in turn help defend Yama. When Yama comes to the ground they hunt for meat.

As a Hail Mary in case a predator is not deterred by its size and Thunderbugs, a Yama Tsukami has a powerful trick up its sleeve. They can unleash a powerful fire attack from their gill vents. Methane from their air sacs is vented out the gill vents while a breath is held in the crop and compressed to an extreme degree. The pressure superheats the air, which is then shunted out the gill vents. The extreme temperature of this exhaled breath ignites the vented methane. This process of weaponized adiabatic compression is extremely powerful, but it rapidly (and literally) burns through their methane reserves.

Cold temperatures slow their metabolism when trying to rapidly reinflate and slows Thunderbug activity, and dragon messes with their immune system and temperature regulation.

As the species is very poorly understood, their reproductive habits are a mystery. But Mezeporta hunters have reported a variation of the monster called Yama Kurai, although these are likely just very old Yamas.

(Most of how Yama works is based off a week long conversation had with @therealwarden7 and many of their ideas.)

Other notes

Gelidron: A recently discovered species of brachypoid Temnospondyl native to the oilwell basin. They live their lives in the slow lane in groups, lazily foraging for various endemic crustaceans. To navigate rough terrain they are equipped with claws and gecko-like foot pads.

They’re able to gradually shift their color to be darker when in oilslits and their iridescent mucus further aids in this camouflage. If threatened they open their mouths as a threat display, but are otherwise easy and nutritious meals. They primarily rely on their explosive reproduction for defense.

Will post more soon.

Day 8: (Para)Toad