Western Toad {Bufo boreas) 



Description: Adults are colored with a gray, browTi, or olive-green mottling and a prominent 

 white or yellowish line down the center of the back; very young transformed toads typically 

 lack the dorsal line, and the warts are often red-brown in color. The pupils are horizontal. 

 The adult has a body length of 2.5-5". There are no cranial crests and the skin is relatively 

 dry with many warts and glands present. 



Eggs and Larvae: Eggs are laid in long, clear, double strings, and each has a black embryo. 

 Tadpoles are typically jet black, while all mid- to large-sized frog tadpoles in Montana are 

 green or bronze (except for some Tailed Frogs); very small frog tadpoles are also black. 



Similar species: Other Montana toads have cranial crests between their eyes. The Plains 

 Spadefoot has one tubercle on the sole of the hind feet, a vertical pupil, and smoother skin. 

 NOTE: It is very difficult to distinguish among the four Montana toad species eggs, larvae, 

 and recently-transformed toadlets. 



Habitat and Habits: Adults are largely terrestrial and found in a variety of habitats from valley 

 bottoms to high elevations; they breed in lakes, ponds, and slow streams with a preference for 

 shallow areas with mud bottoms. Breeding and egg laying in Montana usually takes place 1- 

 3 months after snow-melt, from April at lower elevations to July at higher sites. Tadpoles are 

 typically 2-3 months old at metamorphosis in Montana, depending on water temperature 

 (Black 1970). Following metamorphosis, hundreds of small toads, many with the tails still 

 present, can be found on the shores of breeding ponds. Western Toads were reported 

 breeding from only two locations on the HNF in 1995. We found thousands of Vi grown 

 tadpoles in a pond near Dog Creek on 1 1 July 1995 and 3 metamorphs on an oxbow along the 

 Blackfoot River on 25 August. 



Surveying: Tadpoles are easily seen in ponds during the day and can be sampled with a dipnet. 

 During the breeding season, adults may be seen in the water but at other times are found in 

 more terrestrial habitats. 



Status: Tadpoles and metamorphs of the Western Toad were observed at only two sites during 

 the 1995 survey in the HNF (Appendix 2, 3). No adults were seen during our surveys 

 however, B. Spettigue (pers. comm.) saw one adult near McDonald Pass (Appendix 4). None 

 were seen in the Elkhom or Big Belt Mountains, although historic records exist for sites in or 

 near both (Appendix 3,4). The rarity of this species on the HNF and lack of recent sightings 

 in the eastern ranges is of concern. During 1994 we found no Western Toads in the Little 

 Belt, Highwood, or Crazy Mountain of the L&CNF although historic records exist for all 

 three ranges; additionally only a single breeding site was located on the main Rocky 

 Mountains of the L&CNF (Reichel 1995a). Brunson (1952) regarded the Western Toad as 

 one of the most common batrachians (frogs and toads) in western Montana. Black (1970) 

 supported its common occurrence not only in the west but in many counties east of the 

 continental divide. The Western Toad has declined from the most common anuran in 

 western Montana, to a relatively rare one in the state in the past 25 years (Reichel and Flath 

 1995, Werner and Plumber 1995, Werner and Reichel 1994, 1996). 



The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service now lists this species as a Candidate (C-1) species in 

 Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico. Apparent declines have recently been reported in 

 northern Idaho (C. Peterson pers. comm.), Yellovv'stone National Park (Koch and Peterson 



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