Debbie Cayse, age 13, of Sarasota, Florida, for her question:

How did the Surinam toad yet its name?

It is not often that an animal becomes more famous than a country. But this is true of the Surinam toad. We all have heard of this flat, warty oddity of the amphibian world and many of us have seen him in a zoo. But not nearly as many of us know where to find the country of Surinam on a map. Start looking along the northeast coast of South America. You will find French Guiana and the country of Guyana. Tucked snugly between them you will find the small country A Surinam.

This is the country for which the warty toad was named. It was named the Surinam toad because the first one to be identified as something rather special in the animal kingdom was found in Surinam. The warts on the back of the female are bumpy pockets of eggs, getting ready to hatch. Surinam toads enjoy life squatting under water, and the swampy lakes and jungle mountain streams of Surinam provide ideal homes for them.