iPhone App
Electronic Field Guide to the
Reptiles and Amphibians of
Southern California
Available Now at the
iTunes App Store. |
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Adult male on breeding pond, between advertisement calls, San Diego County |
Adult, San Diego County |
Adult, San Diego County |
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Adult, Santa Cruz County, Arizona |
Adult, Pima County, Arizona |
Adult, Pima County, Arizona |
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Underside of adult, Pima County, Arizona |
Recently-metamorphosed juvenile aprox. 3/4 inches in length ( 2cm ) Riverside County
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Recently-metamorphosed juvenile, Santa Cruz County, Arizona. |
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| Recently-metamorphosed juvenile, Washington County, Utah |
Adults in amplexus, male on top, female on bottom, San Diego County |
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Adult male calling at night, sitting on a mat of vegetation on a small pond in San Diego County |
Adult male calling at night,
San Diego County |
Male and female in amplexus, with eggs on bottom of pool, San Bernardino County © Todd Battey |
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Red-spotted Toads lay their eggs singly or in a small cluster. Other North American toads lay their eggs in strings. |
Two small egg clusters on aquatic vegetation at the surface of a small pool in a desert wash in Yavapai County, Arizona. |
Eggs, San Bernardino County
© Todd Battey |
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Tadpole, Riverside County |
Tadpole, Riverside County |
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| Tadpoles stranded in drying of springwater runoff. The small black patch at the bottom of the picture is the same group of tadpoles shown close-up on the right. Most of these tadpoles were still alive, so the water had only recently dried up and stranded them, dooming them to dessication. |
Many tiny recently-transformed juvenile Red-spotted toads at the edge of a road culvert pool, Terrell County, Texas |
Habitat |
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Habitat, San Diego County -
close-up of spring in desert palm oasis |
Habitat, San Diego County
desert creek |
Habitat, Riverside County,
runoff from desert spring |
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Breeding habitat, San Diego County |
Habitat, San Diego County -
desert palm oasis
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Short Videos |
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A male Red-spotted Toad calls at night in San Diego County. California Treefrogs are calling in the background. |
Tiny toadlets still transforming from tadpoles crawl around on a mat of algae in a desert pond in San Diego County.
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Red-spotted Toad tadpoles in a small desert pond in San Diego County. |
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Several calling male Red-spotted toads at night in a desert creekbed in Yavapai County, Arizona, refuse to call while the camera lights are on them. |
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Description |
Size |
| Adults are 1 1/2 - 3 inches from snout to vent ( 3.8 - 7.6 cm). |
| Appearance |
| A small toad with dry, warty skin, a flattened head and body, and a pointed snout. Weak or absent cranial crests. Round parotoid glands about the size of the eye. Pupils are horizontal. Olive, brownish, light gray above, with red or orange warts, which give this toad its name. White or cream below with or without spotting. Male throat is darkened. Young have many red warts with yellow under the feet. Tadpoles begin as black with bronze flecks on the venter, then become black with faint light mottling. |
| Voice (Listen) |
| This toad's call is a prolonged high-pitched musical trill, lasting up to 10 seconds, which is produced at night . |
| Behavior |
Nocturnal, remaining underground or underneath surface objects during daylight, but occasionally seen moving about in daylight or resting at the edge of breeding pools in the breeding season. In arid regions, toads probably do not move far from water sources. Presumably hibernates during winter cold and during dry periods.
A good climber, easily climbing over rocks. Slow moving, often using a walking or crawling motion along with short hops.
As most toads do for defense, this toad relies on parotoid glands and warts which can secrete a poison that deters some predators.
Male defend breeding territories, wrestling and amplexing other males.
Longevity is most likely under 6 years. |
| Diet |
| Eats a wide variety of invertebrates. Prey is located by vision, then the toad lunges with a large sticky tongue to catch the prey and bring it into the mouth to eat. |
| Reproduction and Young |
Reproduction is aquatic. Fertilization is external. Mating and egg-laying occur from March to September. In the California deserts, breeding occurs mostly April to June. At streams, breeding may span 2 - 4 weeks, but when triggered by rainfall at temporary rain pools, it may span only 1 - 5 nights. Breeding takes place in pools, springs, temporary ponds, intermittent streams, and cattle tanks. Males move to a breeding site and call from various locations - in shallow water, on dry land, on exposed rocks, from burrows, or from under rocks.
Anaxyrus punctatus is the only toad in North America which lays eggs singly, instead of in a gelatinous string, beneath water. Clutches can contain anywhere from just a few to as many as 5,000 eggs. Tadpoles metamorphose after about 8 weeks. Recently-metamorphosed juveniles spend some time at the breeding habitat. After that, their behavior is unknown.
Reported to hybridize with A. b. halophilus, and A. w. woodhousii. |
| Range |
| In California, this species is found throughout the southeastern deserts, as far north as Death Valley, and in localized populations on the coastal slope of the peninsuar ranges. Beyond California it ranges into extreme southern Nevada, southern Utah, southern Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, parts of Oklahoma and Kansas, much of Texas, and south into mainland Mexico. and the full length of Baja California. |
| Habitat |
Associated with rocky desert streams, and also found in oases, pools in rocky arroyos, cattle tanks, grassland, oak woodland, scrubland, river floodplains. Prefers rocky areas where it can hide in cracks and under rocks.
From below sea level in Death Valley and the Imperial Valley to 7,200 ft. (2,200 m.) |
| Taxonomic Notes |
| Formerly included in the genus Bufo. In 2006, Frost et al replaced the long-standing genus Bufo in North America with Anaxyrus, restricting Bufo to the eastern hemisphere. Bufo is still used in most existing references. |
| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| None known. Widespread declines have not been reported in most of their range, including California. This toad seems to be doing well at historical localities and at sites disturbed by cattle grazing. |
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Taxonomy |
| Family |
Bufonidae |
True Toads |
| Genus |
Anaxyrus |
North American Toads |
| Species |
punctatus |
Red-spotted Toad
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Original Description |
Baird and Girard, 1852 - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 6, p. 173
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
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Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Bufo - toad
Anaxyrus -
Greek - A king or chief
punctatus - Latin - spotted - refers to the spotted dorsal pattern
Taken in part from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
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Alternate Names |
Bufo punctatus
Baird's Spotted Toad
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Related or Similar California Frogs |
A. b. halophilus
A. w. woodhousii
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More Information and References |
Natureserve Explorer
California Dept. of Fish and Game
AmphibiaWeb
Stebbins, Robert C., and McGinnis, Samuel M. Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of California: Revised Edition (California Natural History Guides) University of California Press, 2012.
Stebbins, Robert C. California Amphibians and Reptiles. The University of California Press, 1972.
Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.
Behler, John L., and F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.
Powell, Robert., Joseph T. Collins, and Errol D. Hooper Jr. A Key to Amphibians and Reptiles of the Continental United States and Canada. The University Press of Kansas, 1998.
Grismer, L. Lee. Amphibians and Reptiles of Baja California, Including Its Pacific Islands and the Islands in the Sea of Cortés. The University of California Press, 2002.
McPeak, Ron H. Amphibians and Reptiles of Baja California. Sea Challengers, 2000.
Bartlett, R. D. & Patricia P. Bartlett. Guide and Reference to the Amphibians of Western North America (North of Mexico) and Hawaii. University Press of Florida, 2009.
Elliott, Lang, Carl Gerhardt, and Carlos Davidson. Frogs and Toads of North America, a Comprehensive Guide to their Identification, Behavior, and Calls. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009.
Lannoo, Michael (Editor). Amphibian Declines: The Conservation Status of United States Species. University of California Press, June 2005.
Wright, Anna. Handbook of Frogs and Toads of the United States and Canada. Cornell University Press, 1949.
Degenhardt, William G., Charles W. Painter, & Andrew H. Price. Amphibians and Reptiles of New Mexico. University of New Mexico Press,1996.
Davidson, Carlos. Booklet to the CD Frog and Toad Calls of the Pacific Coast - Vanishing Voices. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, 1995.
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The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
This toad is not included on the Special Animals List, meaning there are no significant conservation concerns for it in California according to the Dept. of Fish and Game.
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Organization
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Status Listing
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| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
None |
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| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
None |
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| California Department of Fish and Wildlife |
None |
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| Bureau of Land Management |
None |
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| USDA Forest Service |
None |
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| Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks |
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World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List
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