FAMILY III. BUFONID/E: THE TOADS ^ 



THE AMERICAN TOAD 

 Bufo americanus Le Conte 



Identification Characteristics 



1. Colour: Extremely variable; usually yellow-brown, light 

 or dark in shade, with or without patches and bands of lighter 

 colour. A light vertebral stripe may be present. There may 

 be much bright red and yellow on the warts. There are likely 

 to be four irregular spots of dark rich colouring along each side 

 of the vertebral line. Under parts light, with few or many 

 spots. (See Fig. 52.) Throat of male, black. Female much 

 brighter and more variegated in colour than male. (Fig. 47.) 

 (For colouration, see Colour Plate III.) 



2. Measurements: Male 2 J to 3 inches in length; female much 

 larger. Head large; its length contained 4 to 4^ times in total 

 length. Legs medium in length — length of leg to heel equal to 

 length of body forward to eye. 



3. Structure: Skin conspicuously warty. Parotoid glands 

 medium in size, more or less reniform in shape; situated just back 

 of eye. Straight, narrow, diverging bony ridges extend back- 

 ward between the eyes; each meets at right angles a second bony 

 ridge extending back of eyes to a point above ears. The first 

 ridge extends a little beyond the point of meeting with the second. 

 There is little or no evidence of a ridge extending between the 

 end of the second ridge and the parotoid gland. (See Fig. 48.) 

 Inner sole tubercle of foot conspicuous because of size and black 

 colour. Outer tubercle smaller. (See Fig. 44.) 



Range: Bufo americanus is the common toad east of the 

 Rocky Mountains from Mexico to the Great Bear Lake. It 

 shares the Southern States with Bufo leniiginosus, and southern 

 New England and New York with Bufo fowleri. The species 

 varies considerably in different parts of its range, the variation 

 showing itself in intensity of markings, prominence and arrange- 

 ment of the cranial crests, and in size.^ 



1 Refer to pp. 7, 9 and 44. 



* Bufo copei Henshaw and Yarrow (James Bay, type locality) seems to be a small, promi- 

 nently spotted Biijo americanus^ judging from the type specimens in the National Museum. Bujo 

 aduncus Cope may possibly be Buft americanus. The type specimen is lost, and the species has not 

 been rediscovered. 



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