News Animals

Guttural toads shrank by a third after just 100 years on two islands

Mauritius and Réunion's wee croakers appear to be rapidly evolving island dwarfs

guttural toad

Less than a century ago, humans brought guttural toads from Durban, South Africa (similar to this one shown in the Durban Botanic Gardens) to Mauritius and then Réunion to fight pests.

J. Baxter-Gilbert

By Jake Buehler

- More than 2 years ago

On two islands in the Indian Ocean, the toads just aren’t what they used to be.