Surinam toad

American  

noun

1. a South American aquatic frog, Pipa pipa, the female of which carries the eggs and tadpoles in small depressions on its back.

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Surinam toad British  

noun

1. another name for pipa

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Etymology

Origin of Surinam toad

First recorded in 1765–75

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Surinam toad

But the curious Surinam toad of South America has improved on this arrangement, and lodges each little one in a little pocket in the skin of her back!

From Chatterbox, 1906 by Clarke, J. Erskine (John Erskine)

It is said of the Pipa, or Surinam toad, a hideous, but probably harmless, animal, that very malignant effects are experienced from it when calcined.

From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 19, No. 539, March 24, 1832 by Various

Thus in the Surinam toad the male spreads the ova on the back of the female, where skin cavities form in which the tadpoles develop.

From The Truth About Woman by Hartley, C. Gasquoine (Catherine Gasquoine)

One of the Guiana catfishes, known as Aspredo, very much resembles her countrywoman the Surinam toad in her nursery arrangements.

From Science in Arcady by Allen, Grant

The Surinam toad, represented in No. 8, is also the possessor of one of the strangest nurseries known to science.

From A Book of Natural History Young Folks' Library Volume XIV. by Jordan, David Starr