Range in California: Red
|
 |
 |
 |
Adult, Inyo County |
Adult, Inyo County |
Adult, Inyo County |
 |
 |
 |
Adult, Inyo County |
Adult, Inyo County |
|
 |
 |
 |
Adult, Inyo County.
© 2004 William Flaxington |
|
|
| |
 |
|
| |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
Deep Springs Valley, Inyo County, showing dry lake and springs in distance.
|
|
|
|
Description |
| Size |
| Adults are 1 3/4 - 3 inches from snout to vent (4.4 - 7.6 cm). |
| Appearance |
| The skin is dry and warty, but relatively smooth for a toad. No cranial crests. Oval parotoid glands. Dark, almost solid black above, with light wavy marks and speckles. Usually has a light stripe down the middle of the back. Belly is light and heavily blotched with black. Throat is pale, less spotted on males than on females. Young are olive colored. Like most toads, it moves by walking, instead of hopping. |
| Voice |
A weak chirp, similar to B. b. halophilus. Calls during the day and at night. Only a release call is known.
(You can listen at AmphibiaWeb.) |
| Behavior |
| Active from March to September, hibernating in burrows during winter. Diurnal and crepuscular and nocturnal during heat of the summer. More aquatic than most toads, but can also be found on dry, sandy soil around springs. (We witnessed them walking around on sandy soil near the springs on a rainy night in July.) Forages among grassy tussocks surrounding the springs. |
| Diet |
| Eats a variety of small invertebrates. Typical of most toads, the prey is located by vision, then a large sticky tongue is used to catch the prey and bring it into the mouth to eat. |
| Reproduction |
| Mating and egg-laying occurs from mid March through June in shallow water with vegetation to protect eggs and tadpoles. Fertilization is external. Eggs hatch in 5 days and larvae transform in 3 - 5 weeks. |
| Range |
| Endemic to California. Occurs only in a few localities in Deep Springs Valley, Inyo county where it inhabits springs and marshes. Sometimes found in surrounding grasses. The vegetation around these springs is sparse and conditions are very dry. |
| Habitat |
| According to the CA Dept. of Fish & Game, In 1998, a population of B. exsul was found in the Saline Valley in Inyo County, in Death Valley National Park. Most likely it was introduced. From around 5,000 ft. (1,520 m) to 5,600 ft. (1,710 m.) |
| Taxonomic Notes |
Related to Bufo boreas, but thought to have been isolated from that species for at least 12,000 years.
This toad has been renamed Anaxyrus exsul, but this nomenclature is not yet standard. |
| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
This toad is considered to be threatened because it occurs only in a small isolated population that is restricted to very limited and specialized habitat. If the springs that it depends on were to dry up, the toad would likely become extinct.
Deep Springs College and the California Department of Fish and Game cooperate to protect Black Toad habitat by managing water diversions and vegetation around the springs. The college grazes cattle in the winter, when the toads are hibernating, which cuts back vegetation that would choke off toad habitat. Cattle droppings also support insect populations on which the toads feed. In this way, the cattle perform a function once performed by now-absent native grazers such as bighorn sheep and antelope. |
|
|
Taxonomy |
| Family |
Bufonidae |
True Toads |
| Genus |
Bufo |
True Toads |
| Species |
exsul |
Black Toad
|
|
Original Description |
Myers, 1942 - Occ. Papers Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan, No. 460, p. 3, pl. 1 and 2
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
|
|
Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Bufo - toad
exsul -Latin for exile, refugee - refers to the isolated distribution of this toad
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
|
|
Alternate Names |
Anaxyrus exsul
|
|
Related or Similar California Frogs |
Bufo boreas halophilus
|
|
More Information and References |
Natureserve Explorer
California Dept. of Fish and Game
AmphibiaWeb
Macey, J. Robert and Theodore Papenfuss."Herpetology." The Natural History of the White-Inyo Range Eastern California.
Ed. Clarence Hall. University of California Press, 1991.
Thelander, Carl G., editor in chief. Life on the Edge - A Guide to California's Endangered Natural Resources - Wildlife. Berkeley: Bio Systems Books, 1994.
Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.
Behler, John L., & F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.
Davidson, Carlos. Booklet to the CD Frog and Toad Calls of the Pacific Coast - Vanishing Voices. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, 1995. |
|
|
The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published several times each year by the California Department of Fish and Game.
|
Organization
|
Status Listing
|
| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
None |
|
| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
ST |
Threatened |
| California Department of Fish and Game |
DFG:FP |
Fully Protected |
| Bureau of Land Management |
|
|
| USDA Forest Service |
|
|
| Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks |
G1 |
Critically Imperiled |
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List
|
IUCN:VU |
Vulnerable |
|
|
