Western Toad {Bufo boreas) 



Description: Adults are colored with a gray, brown, 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 the Montana frog species tadpoles are green or 

 bronze (except for some Tailed Frogs). 



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 in 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. On the 

 L&CNF in 1994 we found eggs in a beaver pond on a backwater of the Teton River on 26 

 May 1 994; one clutch was about half developed the other two recently laid. 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. 



Status: None were seen in the study area. Tadpoles and eggs of the Western Toad were observed 

 at only one site during the 1994 survey in the L&CNF, in the Teton River just to the 

 southwest of the study area. The rarity of this species on the RMRD and lack of recent 

 sightings in the outlying eastern ranges is of concern (Reichel 1995a). The U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service now lists this species as a Candidate species in Colorado, Wyoming, and 

 New Mexico. Apparent declines have recently been reported in northern Idaho, western 

 Montana, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, and Colorado (Peterson at al. 1992; Carey 

 1993; Werner and Reichel 1994, 1996; Hendricks and Reichel 1996a; Koch at al. 1995). We 

 would recommend that all sightings of this species be reported and that breeding locations are 

 periodically resurveyed. Due to declines in Montana and elsewhere across its Range, the 

 Western Toad is currently on the Watch List of the Montana Natural Heritage Program. 



Montana Natural Heritage Program rank: G4 S4. Watch List. 



21 



