title: Animal sample from Rhinophrynus dorsalis (Mexican burrowing frog) for VGP reference genome, aRhiDor1
organism: Rhinophrynus dorsalis
description: The Mexican burrowing toad (Rhinophrynus dorsalis) is the single living representative of the family Rhinophrynidae. It is a unique species in its taxonomy and morphology, with special adaptations to assist them in digging burrows where they spend most of their time. These adaptations include a small pointed snout and face, keratinized structures and a lack of webbing on front limbs, and specialized tongue morphology to assist in feeding on ants and termites underground (from Wikipedia entry). This sample of an individual found in Tetiz, Yucatan, Mexico, was procured by Sean Rovito to generate a high-quality reference genome for the Vertebrate Genomes Project (VGP). Sequencing and genome assembly were conducted at the Vertebrate Genome Lab (VGL) at the Rockefeller University, led by Erich D. Jarvis, Giulio Formenti, and Jennifer Balacco.