Vol. XXI, pp. 199-206 November 24, 1908 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



NOTES ON THE LIFE HISTORY OF SCAPHIOPUS 



COUCHII BAIRD. 



BY JOHN K. STRECKER, JR. 



Baylor University, Waco, Texas. 



The geographical range of Couch's Spadefoot (Scaphiopus 

 couchii Baird) is, even at this late date, very imperfectly 

 known. In Texas I have traced it north to within fifty miles 

 of Fort Worth. It is an abundant species in the coast region, 

 from Refugio south to the mouth of the Rio Grande River, but it 

 does not appear to range east of the 96th parallel . It inhabits the 

 entire Rio Grande Valley from Brownsville to El Paso. It is as 

 common in central Texas (Waco and Burnet) as it is in the 

 southern portion, and this leads me to believe that its Texas 

 range is far more extensive than is at present known. The 

 only authentic record I have for the Territory of New Mexico 

 is based on a single example from the White Mountains, sent 

 me for identification by Messrs. Townsend and Barber. In 

 Mexico it is found along the northeastern boundary, in the 

 States of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas, 

 and in the Cape region of Lower California. Definite localities 

 for central and western Mexico are lacking. This leaves an 

 extensive range of country from which our museums possess no 

 specimens, but it is reasonal >le to suppose that the animal is found 

 as far south as Durango and Victoria. 



As can be seen by the foregoing, Scaphiopus couchii is found 

 in the more elevated districts as well as in the low-lands, and to 

 judge from the altitudes of recorded localities there is a possi- 

 bility of its extending from the Lower Sonoran zone into the 

 edge of the Upper Sonoran in western Texas and southern New 

 Mexico. At Brownsville, Texas, the altitude is only about 36 

 feet, while the White Mountain, New Mexico, specimen was 

 collected at approximately 5200 feet. The altitude of Waco, 

 32— Prc-c. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. XXI, 1908. (199) 



