FAMILY II. PELOBATID/E: THE SPADEFOOT 



TOADS l 



THE HERMIT SPADEFOOT 

 Scapbiopus hoibrookii Harlan 



IDENTIFICATION CHARACTERISTICS 



Colour: Greenish, yellowish, or ashy brown above, with or 

 without a curved line of yellow extending backward from each 

 eye. (See Fig. 17.) Iris golden. Light yellow colour about upper 

 jaw, on sides, and on outer margins of the legs and arms. In 

 the case of the female, the yellow is replaced by yellowish white. 

 The under parts are dingy white, becoming purplish posteriorly. 

 (For colouration, see Colour Plate II.) 



Measurements: Size somewhat below medium, i. e. length i\ 

 inches. Female not much larger than male. Body stout and toad- 

 like. Head large and with very wide front. (See Fig. 15.) Lower 

 leg shorter than upper leg. Legs short; i. e. length of leg to heel 

 about equal to length of body (to posterior margin of ear). (See 

 Fig. 17.) 



Structure: Skin relatively smooth, though close inspection 

 shows small tubercles plainly visible on back and sides. No bony 

 crests on the head. The thin skin is completely adherent to the 

 cranial bones and is penetrated by small black bony granules. 

 The eyes are exceedingly prominent; pupil vertical. Ear dis- 

 tinct, smaller than the eye. The upper jaw lacks the indenta- 

 tion common among toads. (See Fig. 1 5 and compare with Fig. 

 no.) The parotoid glands are small and round. (See Fig. 16.) 

 The inner tubercle of the sole is a large black spade-like process; 

 there is no outer sole tubercle. (See Fig. 19.) 



Range: Scapbiopus hoibrookii is found in every part of 

 eastern North America, including Texas and Florida. It is re- 

 ported from Martha's Vineyard, which fact, as Cope says, may 

 indicate the late separation of that island from the mainland. 



A strange weird-looking creature is the Hermit Spadefoot 

 when he is turned out of his ground burrow. At first sight he 



1 Refer to pp. 7, 8 and 43. 



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