Figure 1 – American toad. Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge, May 20, 2016, Sudbury, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2016.

Here is one of my favorite “Animal Faces” images, taken with my IPhone while lying on the ground at the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge. It is a certain demonstration of the IPhone’s close-up abilities. And it continues the saga or question of animal consciousness. The toad was well aware of me and frozen in an “if I don’t move, you won’t see me” position.” Such reptilian eyes, so well adapted to trigger its tongue to shoot out at the sign of a passing insect. But other than that we rightly or wrongly attribute the look to be one of empty vacancy. True or not we cannot be certain. But we must remember that this little toad can trace its lineage back to Hylonomus lyelli, the first reptile and the first animal known to have fully adapted to land life about 315 million years ago, during the Late Carboniferous Period.