This rare animal on Mount Ailao is actually the prototype of the poison swallowed by Duan Yu in "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils"

Yunnan's Ailao Mountain unexpectedly became popular and topped the trending search list, and its rich wildlife resources also became the focus of public attention. Many rare species, such as the Asiatic black bear, yellow-throated marten, Ailao toad, red muntjac, crab-eating mongoose, etc., their names alone highlight the extraordinary charm of the biodiversity of Ailao Mountain.

Surprisingly, among these rare animals, there is the prototype of the "king of all poisons" Manggu Zhuha eaten by Duan Yu in "The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils". If you want to explore this wonderful connection, you need to carefully recall the relevant plot of the martial arts legend written by Mr. Jin Yong.

01

The "Infinite Horned Monster" with a strange cry

In the first five chapters of the novel "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils", the protagonist Duan Yu, after mastering the peerless martial art "Lingbo Weibu" in Wuliang Mountain in Yunnan, swallowed centipedes and the "king of all poisons" Manggu Zhuha, and became a martial arts master who was immune to all poisons.

But the Manggu Red Halibut "looks like a toad, is no more than two inches long, its body is dark red as blood, its eyes shine with golden light, it sounds like a bull, its body is scarlet... When it opens its mouth, the thin skin under its neck vibrates, and it roars like a bull."

In the TV series "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils", Duan Yu swallowed centipedes and Manggu Zhuha

From this we know that the Manggu red clam has three outstanding characteristics: first, it is relatively small, only five or six centimeters long; second, its entire body is red; third, its sound is very loud, like the sound of "Jiang Ang".

There are many strange things in the world. There is a rare animal in Wuliang Mountain that is similar to the Manggu Red Clam. This animal lives in the water all year round and likes to make "ang, ang, ang" sounds, especially in winter and spring. This sound sounds dull and strange, which makes people feel scared. At first, people didn't know what it was, so they called it "Lao ang" based on the sound; later, the locals saw that it looked like a toad with "beards" at the corners of its mouth, so they called it "Wuliang Horn Monster".

In fact, the scientific name of the infinite-horned monster is Ailao bearded toad. It was first discovered by scientists in 1984 in Ailao Mountain in Xujiaba, Jingdong Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan, hence the name.

As one of the main places where the Ailao bearded toad appears, Wuliang Mountain is a famous mountain in Yunnan Province, the western branch of the Yunling Mountains. It is more than 260 kilometers long, only half of the eastern branch of the Yunling Mountains, namely the Ailao Mountain. Like the Ailao Mountain, Wuliang Mountain is majestic and steep, and there are many rare birds and animals in the deep forests, and the Ailao bearded toad is one of them.

Schematic diagram of Ailao Mountain and Wuliang Mountain

02

A rare animal that courts daringly

From the perspective of biological taxonomy, the Ailao bearded toad belongs to the genus Ceratosauria under the family Ceratosauridae in the order Anura of the class Amphibia. This genus is unique to China, and currently only five species have been recorded, namely the Emei bearded toad, the Chong'an bearded toad, the Leishan bearded toad, the Yaoshan bearded toad and the Ailao bearded toad.

The most notable feature of animals in the genus Acropora is that they have "beards" (professionally called keratin spines). Among them, the Ailao Acropora has the largest number of "beards", which can reach 24.

Ailao bearded toad with a beard

The length of an adult Ailao bearded toad ranges from 6 to 8 centimeters, with a purple-brown back dotted with many small black spots. In the local area, the Ailao bearded toad is revered as the "Toad King" because of its unique status. There are even news reports that dozens of other species of toads often surround it, as if performing some kind of worship ceremony.

The Ailao bearded toad exhibits two unique features in its courtship behavior: first, when attracting nearby females, the male Ailao bearded toad will make an "ang, ang, ang" sound in the water. This sound can penetrate the water surface and effectively convey its desire to mate; second, when two male Ailao bearded toads compete for females, they will use their hard "beards" as weapons to poke each other. The fierce fight sometimes even causes one of the "beards" to fall off completely.

Ailao bearded toad crawling

The number of Ailao bearded toads is extremely rare, and they are mainly found in Ailao Mountain, Wuliang Mountain and Xishuangbanna. Due to its rarity, Ailao bearded toads have been included in the "National List of Terrestrial Wildlife with Important Economic and Scientific Research Values" (published on August 1, 2000).

The main reason for their scarcity is their strict requirements for environmental conditions. They only live in areas with superior ecological environment, dense forests, clear streams, high oxygen content and few people. This also indirectly reflects the superiority of the natural environment of Ailao Mountain.

In summary, the Ailao Bearded Toad has many similarities with the Manggu Red Clam described in the novel in terms of appearance and living habits. Except for the difference in the color of the back, the other aspects are highly consistent. Therefore, it is quite convincing to regard the Ailao Bearded Toad as the prototype of the Manggu Red Clam.

03

The controversial "bearded frog"

The "Ailao Bearded Toad" is commonly known as the "Bearded Frog", which is not very accurate. In the popular context**, people often refer to amphibians frogs and toads as "frogs", but from a professional perspective, there is a clear difference between the two. **

Frogs and toads both belong to the order Anura of the class Amphibia. Under this category, frogs include nearly 30 families, such as Ranidae, Rhacophoridae, and Mylophoridae. Currently, there are more than 250 genera and more than 3,000 species recorded. Toads mainly refer to the family Toadidae, which includes 26 genera and a total of 495 species. They are often called "toads" or "toads" by the public.

When distinguishing frogs from toads, except for some special cases, we can consider multiple dimensions such as skin characteristics, the presence or absence of venom glands, movement habits, and tooth structure. Among them, movement characteristics and the presence or absence of teeth have become the main signs to distinguish the two.

In order to show these differences more intuitively, the author has compiled a table with the following details:

In terms of skin characteristics, most frogs have a smooth, moist and colorful appearance, while toads' skin appears rough, covered with raised bumps and relatively single in color.

The skin of the black-spotted frog and the black-rimmed toad is obviously different

However, there are a few exceptions: although the saw-legged tree frog and the rough-skinned frog are frogs, their backs are covered with bumps and their colors are not very rich; while the zee's spotted toad is the opposite, with smooth and delicate skin and bright colors, which is very different from the appearance of a toad.

Saw-legged frogs (a), rough-skinned frogs (b), swamp frogs (c) and spotted frogs (d)

In terms of venom glands, most frogs are not toxic, while toads have visibly enlarged venom glands on their skin. However, the poison dart frog is a notable exception, as a species of frog, it has venom glands and can release highly toxic venom.

In terms of athletic ability, frogs show excellent athletic talent with their well-developed long legs, and mainly move by jumping; toads have relatively short hind legs, which leads to slow movement speed, and they usually move by small jumps or crawling.

In terms of tooth structure, frogs have teeth, which help them prevent prey from escaping when hunting; while toads usually do not have teeth and they rely entirely on swallowing to complete their hunting.

Gray tree frog skull structure (teeth in the upper jaw are clearly visible)

Based on the above four characteristics, the back of the Ailao Bearded Toad is covered with bumps, the color is relatively simple, it has obvious poison glands, it mainly moves by crawling, and it has no teeth. These characteristics are all in line with the typical characteristics of toads, so it is a real toad, and the common name "Bearded Toad" is more appropriate.

It is worth mentioning that although Mr. Jin Yong did not have the opportunity to see the rare Ailao Bearded Toad (this species was not discovered for the first time until 1984) when he was writing "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" between 1963 and 1969, he successfully created the popular character of "Manggu Zhuha" with his profound knowledge and wild imagination.

The exquisite setting of this character not only demonstrates his profound cultural heritage and extraordinary creative talent, but also allows the two place names of Wuliang Mountain and Ailao Mountain in Yunnan to enter the vision of more readers and enhance their popularity. From this perspective, Mr. Jin Yong's contribution is indelible.

References

1. "A rare animal, the Ailao bearded toad, was discovered in Nanjian, Dali", Peng Qiyun, Nature, No. 5, 2003

2. "Visiting the Bearded Toad of Ailao", Wu Xiushan, Life World, No. 10, 2012

3. "A preliminary study on the impact of climate change on the potential distribution of the extremely small population species Ailao bearded toad in Yunnan", Jin Mingfen, Wang Jishan, Rao Dingqi, VIP, No. 3, 2016

Author: Wei Deyong

Member of Guangdong Shenzhen Writers Association

Reviewer: Liu Kun and Li Peiyuan