Fowler's Toad 



suffice to distinguish it from Bufo lentiginosus. However, its 

 characteristics are so like those of Bufo americanus that in some 

 specimens it is almost impossible to make the distinction, and it 

 would then seem that Bufo I. woodhousei is Bufo americanus with 

 only the variation to be expected from a different geographical 

 distribution. The three toads mentioned are alike not only in 

 general appearance, but in each case the male has a wrinkled 

 black throat, and can extend a rounded vocal throat-pouch. In 

 each case, also, the call given is a vibrated note of high pitch and 

 sweet quality. These calls are difficult to distinguish one from 

 the other, and prove a common ancestor. 



This toad is often confused with Bufo cognatus, which is 

 found in many of the same localities. The confusion arises, how- 

 ever, on superficial examination only, as the two toads are very 

 different indeed. The cranial ridges of Bufo cognatus are not 

 parallel, but diverge backward from a prominent bony elevation 

 between the nostrils. (See Figs. 70 and 89.) The voices of the two 

 are different, and could never be confused after once hearing. 

 That of Bufo woodbousei is sweet and musical, while the other 

 is emphatically the opposite. The vocal pouch of Bufo wood- 

 housei is a rounded sac extending from the margin of the lower 

 jaw to the line on the breast somewhat below the arm insertions 

 and from one angle of the jaw to the other. That of Bufo cog- 

 natus is a bladder sent out from the base of the throat in the 

 midline between the arm insertions. (See Fig. 100.) 



There are many minor differences between the two, such as 

 the following: The foot of Bufo cognatus is relatively much longer 

 than that of Bufo woodbousei (compare Figs. 70 and 91); the 

 parotoids of Bufo cognatus extend obliquely down on the 

 shoulder, while those of Bufo woodbousei are almost parallel. 

 (See Figs. 68 and 91.) 



FOWLER'S TOAD 



Bufo fowleri Putnam 



IDENTIFICATION CHARACTERISTICS 



Colour: General colour light or dark grey (or dull brown), which 

 may be greenish or yellowish in tone, very rarely reddish. Some- 

 times dark or dingy and unspotted; more often spotted and 



93 



