cane toad

noun

: a large, brownish, poisonous toad (Rhinella marina synonym Bufo marinus) native to Central and South America, Mexico, and extreme southern Texas and introduced into other tropical and subtropical areas (such as Australia) where it has become an invasive species

Cane toads are seen as a major threat to biodiversity, not only because they voraciously out-compete some native species for food and consume others, but also because their skin toxins are thought to kill carnivorous predators which mistake them for local amphibians.

—Sheila Lunter

called also giant toad, marine toad

Examples of cane toad in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And Ward-Fear’s team is now evaluating cane toad aversion for protecting crocodiles and aquatic monitors. —Elizabeth Pennisi, science.org, 5 July 2024

For the new work, the researchers first identified seven areas in Australia’s tropical Kimberly region that would soon be overrun by cane toads. —Gennaro Tomma, Scientific American, 17 June 2024

The toxic cane toads, in fact, were set loose in Australia deliberately, in what would turn out to be a deeply misguided attempt to control pest beetles. —Emily Anthes Chang W. Lee, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2024

For example, the famous case of cane toads, brought to Australia to try to control insects munching on sugarcane crops, quickly became an-ever-expanding menace in their own right. —Popular Science, 29 Feb. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1955, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

cane toad

noun

: a large, brownish toad (Rhinella marina synonym Bufo marinus) that secretes a toxin poisonous especially to small animals and that is native to Central and South America, Mexico, and southernmost Texas but has become an invasive species in other warm regions (as Florida and Australia) where it was formerly introduced for insect control