Anaxyrus cognatus
—
Great Plains Toad
The genus Anaxyrus was split from Bufo by Frost et al in 2006. This split is particularly controversial among herpetologists, and many references still use the long-established Bufo.
Like the Couch's Spadefoot, this is another relatively common toad in southern Arizona, but one which I had not yet seen. This one was a particularly regal slob of a toad, wouldn't you say?
Here's another regal slob, with much greener blotches. These toads look so very proud.
The apparent attitude on the faces of these blobby toads never fails to crack me up.
These toads spend their days (and much of the year) buried in the ground, and they don't typically bother to clean up the evidence before going out. So uncouth!
The toads are gettting closer! The toads are getting closer!
Printed references:
- Behler, J. L., King, F. W. 1979. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles & Amphibians
- Brennan, T. C. and Holycross, A. T. 2006. A Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles in Arizona
- Crother, B. I. (ed.) 2017. Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, Eighth Edition
- Degenhardt, W. G., Painter, C. W., Price, A. H. 1996. Amphibians & Reptiles of New Mexico
- Elliott, L., Gerhardt, C. and Davidson, C. 2009. The Frogs and Toads of North America
- Stebbins, R. C. 2003. Peterson Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Third Edition