Parotoid gland

Parotoid gland

"For one of the human salivary glands, see parotid gland."

The parotoid gland is an external skin gland on the back, neck, and shoulder of toads and some frogs and salamanders. It secretes a milky alkaloid substance to deter predators. The substance produced acts as a neurotoxin.

Parotoid glands are sometimes said to be wart-like in appearance, though warts are abnormal growths caused by viral infections while parotoid glands are normal, healthy parts of the animals that bear them. The vague similarity in appearance, however, is the reason behind the old wives' tale that touching a toad causes warts.

ee also

*Bufotoxin


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  • Parotoid — Par o*toid, a. [Parotid + oid.] (Anat.) Resembling the parotid gland; applied especially to cutaneous glandular elevations above the ear in many toads and frogs. n. A parotoid gland. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • parotoid — /peuh roh toyd/, Zool. n. 1. Also called parotoid gland. any of certain cutaneous glands forming warty masses near the ear in certain toads. adj. 2. of or pertaining to a parotoid. 3. resembling a parotid. [1870 75; PAROT(ID) + OID] * * * …   Universalium

  • parotoid — /peuh roh toyd/, Zool. n. 1. Also called parotoid gland. any of certain cutaneous glands forming warty masses near the ear in certain toads. adj. 2. of or pertaining to a parotoid. 3. resembling a parotid. [1870 75; PAROT(ID) + OID] …   Useful english dictionary

  • parotoid — /pəˈrɒtɔɪd/ (say puh rotoyd) adjective 1. resembling a parotid gland. 2. denoting certain cutaneous glands forming warty masses or excrescences near the ear in certain salientians, as toads. –noun 3. a parotid gland. {parotid, oid} …  

  • Parotid gland — Infobox Anatomy Name = PAGENAME Latin = glandula parotidea GraySubject = 177 GrayPage = 693 Caption = Salivary glands: #1 is Parotid gland #2 is Submandibular gland #3 is Sublingual gland Caption2 = Precursor = System = Artery = Vein = Nerve =… …   Wikipedia

  • Cane Toad — Taxobox name = Cane Toad status = LC status system = IUCN2.3 trend = up status ref = [IUCN2006|assessors=Solís et al |year=2004|id=41065|title=Bufo marinus|downloaded=11 May 2006 Database entry includes a range map and justification for this… …   Wikipedia

  • Cane toad — For other uses, see Cane toads (disambiguation). Cane toad Conservation status …   Wikipedia

  • Magnificent Tree Frog — Conservation status Least Concern ( …   Wikipedia

  • Red-spotted Toad — Taxobox name = Red spotted toad status = LC | status system = IUCN3.1 trend = stable image width = 240px regnum = Animalia phylum = Chordata classis = Amphibia ordo = Anura familia = Bufonidae genus = Bufo species = B. punctatus binomial = Bufo… …   Wikipedia

  • Philoria — Taxobox | name = Mountain Frogs regnum = Animalia phylum = Chordata classis = Amphibia ordo = Anura familia = Myobatrachidae subfamilia = Limnodynastinae genus = Philoria genus authority = Spencer, 1901 subdivision ranks = Species subdivision =… …   Wikipedia

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