KEYS TO l-ROGS AND TOADS 



characteristic types ol breeding sites used, typical behavior or attitudes of 

 tadpoles, and other matters that may be of interest in themselves or as further 

 aids in identihcation. For each form, one reference, or more, is given (when 

 any exist) to a description ot adults, eggs, and larvae. A glossary is included 

 for those unfamiliar with technical terms used in the keys. 



Keys to Frogs and Toads of Oklahoma 



I. EGGS 



1. Eggs deposited singly or (occasionally) a few together 2 



1. Eggs deposited in groups of typically twenty or more 4 



2. Single eggs light in color (brown or gray and cream or white), attached 



to vegetation 3 



2. Single eggs dark in color (approaching black and white), attachetl to bottom. 

 To be expected in rough mountainous areas, mostly in west. Rare. 



Canyon Toad, Btifo punctatus Baird and Girard. 



3. Single eggs with I'cry sticky jelly; egg envelope single, more than 2.0 mm. in 

 diameter. State-wide and abundant. Northern Cricket Frog, Acris crepitatis Baird. 



3. Single eggs with envelope not exceptionally sticky; egg envelojie single but less 

 than 2.0 mm. in diameter. Known only in the east. 



Spring Peeper, Hyla cnuijcr cnicifcr Wied. 



4. Eggs deposited in strings of jelly (Bufo) 5 



4. Eggs not deposited in strings 10 



5. Egg strings short, not exceeding about 15 cm. in length; egg size 1.0-1.3 mm.; 

 envelope single, 3.2-3.6 mm. in diameter. Typically in rocky pools but probably 

 sometimes in tanks in west. Rare. Canyon Toad, Bufo ptinctctttts Baird and Girard. 



5. Egg strings longer than 15 cm., usually very long 6 



6. Eggs black and white; envelope wide (3.0 mm. or more) 7 



6. Eggs brown and yellow; envelope narrow (about 2.0 mm.); western Oklahoma, 

 east to Jefferson County in south; common southwest, rare northwest. 



Desert Toad, Bufo compactilis Wiegmann. 



7. Envelope double 8 



7. Envelope single {Bufo woodhotisii) 9 



8. Egg size 1.0-1.4 mm.; egg number up to 8,000; eggs usually uncrowded with tube 

 nearly or quite the same diameter throughout length; eggs in each string seldom 

 in double rows; a straight partition visible between adjacent eggs. Eastern half of 

 Oklahoma only. Abundant. American Toad, Btifo terrestris amerkantis Holbrook.^ 



8. Egg size 1.2 mm. (arithmetical mean); egg number up to 20,000; eggs often 

 crowded; outer tube characteristically narrower between eggs than across eggs; 

 eggs in each string sometimes in double rows (in whole or in part); each egg sur- 

 rounded by an inner capsule, the walls of adjacent ones sometimes appearing as 

 a partition but if so, not straight at outer edges. Western two-thirds of Oklahoma 

 in grassland only. Great Plains Toad, Bufo cognatus Say. 



9. Egg number smaller (about 8,000); egg size smaller (1.0-1.4 mm.); tube diameter 

 2.6-4.6 mm.; eggs sometimes in double but almost never in triple rows. Eastern 

 Oklahoma only, west to Coal County in south. Abundant. 



Fowler's Toad, Bufo ivoodhotisii fowlcii Hinckley. 

 9. Egg number larger (about 25,000); egg size larger (about 3.5 mm.); tube diam- 

 eter typically larger (about 4.0-5.0 mm.); eggs often in double, sometimes in triple 

 rows; abundant in all of Oklahoma except where B. w. fouleii occurs. Present in 



- Known until recently as B. cunericanus americanus but now proved to intergrade 

 with Bufo teriTstris Bonneterre and hence considered as a subspecies of this (see Netting and 

 Coin, 1946). 



II 



