Mark is trying to find a Zombie Toad in the Sonoran Desert.
While he was looking for the toad, along the way he found a Sidewinder Rattlesnake! Mark said, " If you look at the front of the snake's head, you see those horns, it's actually a specialized scale". He said, " The raised scales over their eyes are likely an evolutionary adaptation that may help the snake shade its eyes from the sun, or possibly prevent sand from drifting over them as they lay buried underneath the sand to ambush prey".
They move super cool!! I wish I could have a Sidewinder Rattlesnake!!
They let the snake go and kept going to look for the Zombie toad. But they came across a Desert hairy scorpion! Mark held the scorpion by the tail and made sure that the scorpion did not sting him. He said never do what I am doing, am just doing it because of science.
Mark said, " what is interesting is although it is the largest, it has probably the weakest venom". If you are stung then it will only feel like a bee sting. But if you are allergic to it, then well you can have a really bad situation. Then he let the scorpion go.
He found water!! And where water is, the Zombie toads are! He found a Zombie toad. Now he just has to catch it! With one hand in the water, he caught the Zombie toad!!!
Mark said," This creature actually lives underground.". The toad's foot has a black little dot. And that dot is actually built out of the same stuff from our fingernails. They use that to dig underground to hibernate a year, and when it hibernates it almost completely dehydrates itself and slows down all of its life processes remaining in a state of limbo for months and months and months. When the rain comes, the toad will rehydrate itself and emerge from the ground to breed and lay eggs in shallow pools of water. But they will return to the ground shortly there after for another year as a lifeless organism.
The Zombie toads eye looks just like a cats eye almost.
The toads skin is not as bumpy as a ordinary toad.
Mark said " you should definitely not have a Zombie toad as your pet".