KKYS TO I-ROCS AND TOADS 



26. Scaphiopus hummondii Band ( Western Spadetool) 



Distribution: western Oklahoma east to Woods and western (irecr coun- 

 ties. Habitat: short-grass plains and gypsum hill country only. Breeding: pat- 

 tern like S. bombijrons (q.v.) Descriptions: eggs, Wright and Wright 

 (1942); tadpoles, Smith (1934) under the name 5. hammondii (see Bragg, 

 1941); adults, Smith (1934), Tanner (1939). 



27. Scaphiopus hnrterii Strecker (Savannah Spadefoot) 



Distribution: eastern halt of Oklahoma including eastern Logan and 

 Cleveland counties and perhaps west of this on flood plains. Habitat: wood- 

 land and savannah only; abundant but rarely seen. Breeding: conditions of 

 breeding somewhat obscure. Have been observed to breed only during periods 

 of heavy rainfall, April, May, and September, but not uniformly. Eggs: black 

 and white attached in irregular masses or strings to vegetation near shore or 

 near surface in shallow temporary pools. Tadpoles: small, dark gray or brown, 

 often with small cream or yellow bar at tail base, and with clear tail fin. 

 Easily confused superficially with Bujo terrestris americanus because of small 

 size and dark color. Descriptions: eggs and tadpoles, Bragg (1944); adults, 

 Strecker (1910), Smith (1937), Tanner (1939). 



Glossary''^ 



Attenuated. Thin toward end, or brought to a sharp point (said of tail-tips 



of certain tadpoles.) 

 Beak. ( 1 ) A median extension of the horny upper jaw of a tadpole, 



or ( 2 ) sometimes the whole upper jaw as distinguished from 



the lower. 

 Boss. ( 1 ) A protuberance usually caused by an underlying outgrowth 



of bone, or (2) the bony outgrowth alone. 

 Cranial Crests. Ridges on the head between the eyes of some species of toads 



(Bufo). 

 Depressed. Flattened dorso-ventrally. 

 Egg Envelope. A layer of clear gelatinous material about an ainphibian egg 



which serves a protective function. 

 Entire. Not interrupted by a space in the middle (said of labial teeth 



rows of tadpoles). 

 Head-body. Tadpole exclusive of its tail. 

 Iridescence. Coloring which gives a sheen at different angles. Common on 



the ventral surface of tadpoles and on soine types it occurs 



dorsally. 

 Labial. Referring to a lip. 



Labial Formula. A fraction whose numerator is the number of rows ( whether 



or not any is interrupted in the middle) of labial teeth on the 



-^ All definitions given here apply specifically to this key, and are not intended for 

 all other possible uses, since some terms in the key are employed in special senses. 



27 



