Arizona Toad

Anaxyrus microscaphus

Reptiles & AmphibiansIn the app

They grow to about 48 to 86 mm from snout to vent. They are plump and stocky with dry skin and low warts. They also have few tubercles and no cranial crests. These toads…

How to identify

They grow to about 48 to 86 mm from snout to vent. They are plump and stocky with dry skin and low warts. They also have few tubercles and no cranial crests. These toads have oval, widely separated parotoid glands that are pale toward the front. Their pupils are also horizontal. This toad is normally grey, but it can also be beige, pale yellow, pink, rusty, and brown. They have no stripe down the middle of the back and are usually paler on the front of its parotoids, upper eyelids, and central upper back. Also, they are whitish below with no spots or mottling and the throats of both genders are pale. Lastly, their young are salmon-coloured or light olive with reddish warts.

Range

The total range of this specie is fragmented. It goes from the Colorado River drainage close to Fort Mojave, east across central Arizona into western New Mexico. Lastly, it can be found around the area where the Nevada, Utah, and Arizona borders meet.

Habitat

They can be found in riparian areas from lowlands. These are close to the Colorado River drainage in California, into uplands and pine-oak woodland. They are nocturnally active and remain underground in the daytime. They can also be often seen moving around in daylight or relaxing at the edge of breeding pools in the breeding season. They feed on a variety of invertebrates. Their breeding is aquatic and it occurs early to late February but sometimes late March to early April at higher elevations. The average clutch size is about 4,500 eggs and hatching takes place in 3-6 days.

Similar species

Anaxyrus boreas or the Western Toad. They are a large toad species which range from about 56 – 130 mm in total length. They have a white or cream dorsal stripe and are usually dusky gray or greenish dorsally. Anaxyrus canorus or the Yosemite Toad. They are medium-sized ranging from about 48 – 84 mm in total length. They are sticky toads with eyes that have dark brown irises with gold iridophores. Their parotoid glands are large and narrowly spaced. Anaxyrus exsul or the Black Toad. They grow to about 50 mm in total length. This toad had black skin covered in white and tan speckles. It also has a white midline down its spine from head to rump.