Fowler's toad (''Anaxyrus fowleri'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

toad Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scient ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Bufonidae {{Cat main, Toad This category contains both species commonly called toads, and the true toads from the family Bufonidae {{Cat main, Toad This category Category, plural categories, may refer to: Philosophy and general uses *Categorization, cat ...

. The species is native to North America, where it occurs in much of the eastern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and parts of adjacent

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It was previously considered a subspecies of

Woodhouse's toad Woodhouse's toad (''Anaxyrus woodhousii'') is a medium-sized () true toad native to the United States and Mexico. There are three recognized subspecies. ''A. woodhousii'' tends to hybridize with '' Anaxyrus americanus'' where their ranges overl ...

(''Anaxyrus woodhousii'', formerly ''Bufo woodhousii'').Fowler's Toad.
Natural Resources Canada.

Etymology

The specific name, ''fowleri'', is in honor of naturalist Samuel Page Fowler (1800–1888) from

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, who was a founder of the Essex County Natural History Society, which later became the

Essex Institute The Essex Institute (1848–1992) in Salem, Massachusetts, was "a literary, historical and scientific society." It maintained a museum, library, historic houses; arranged educational programs; and issued numerous scholarly publications. In 1992 th ...

Description

Fowler's toad is usually brown, grey, olive green and rust red in color with darkened warty spots. If the toad has a pale stripe on its back, it is an adult. The belly is usually uniformly whitish except for one dark spot. The male may be darker in overall color than the female. The adult toad is typically in head-body length. The

tadpole A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found ...

is oval with a long tail and upper and lower fins, and is long.

Range

Their native geographic range is eastern North America. Their range extends throughout most of the southeastern and eastern United States and parts of southeastern Canada. They reside in areas near temporary or permanent wetlands as well as forested areas.

Reproduction

Fowler's toad reproduces in warmer seasons of the year, especially in May and June. It breeds in open, shallow waters such as

pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from ...

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

shores, and

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

es. The male produces a call which attracts not only females, but also other males. The calling male may attempt to mate with one of the other males, which will then produce a chirping "release call", informing him of his mistake. It has been found that male Fowler's toads mating calls are affected by the body size and temperature of the caller. Females are often able to discriminate between variations in these calls and select the largest available males. Males are able to alter their calls to make them seem more attractive to females through thermoregulation. When a male finds a female, the pair will initiate

amplexus Amplexus (Latin "embrace") is a type of mating behavior exhibited by some externally fertilizing species (chiefly amphibians and horseshoe crabs) in which a male grasps a female with his front legs as part of the mating process, and at the same ...

and up to 7,000 to 10,000 eggs are fertilized. They hatch in 2 to 7 days. Based on observations, Fowler's toads breed repeatedly through the spring. As many as 10 different age classes, separated by several days, have been observed over the course of a breeding season in one small pond. A new tadpole may reach sexual maturity in one season, but the process may take up to three years. Fowler's toad regularly hybridizes with two of its close relatives: the

American toad The American toad (''Anaxyrus americanus'') is a common species of toad found throughout Canada and the eastern United States. It is divided into three subspecies: the eastern American toad (''A. a. americanus''), the dwarf American toad (''A. a ...

and the

. The Woodhouse's toad subspecies ''Anaxyrus woodhousii velatus'', or the East Texas toad, is possibly a hybrid of the Woodhouse's toad and the Fowler's toad.

Behavior

Predators of Fowler's toad include

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s, and small mammals. It uses defensive coloration to blend into its surroundings. It also secretes a noxious compound from the warts on its back. The secretion is distasteful to predators and can be lethal to small mammals. The toad is also known to play dead.

Habitat

Fowler's toad lives in open

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (se ...

s, sand

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or arti ...

s, and beaches. It burrows into the ground during hot, dry periods and during the winter.

Diet

The adult Fowler's toad eats

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

s and other small terrestrial

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s, but avoids

earthworm An earthworm is a terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. They exhibit a tube-within-a-tube body plan; they are externally segmented with corresponding internal segmentation; and they usually have setae on all segments. T ...

s, unlike its close relative, the

(''Anaxyrus americanus''). This toad also has been shown to eat velvet ants, which is an ant that gives a very painful sting to humans, but does nothing to the toad. The tadpole scrapes algae and bacterial mats from rocks and plants using the tooth-like structures in its mouth. Bufo fowleri, Missouri Ozarks

Conservation status

An important conservation measure for Fowler's toad is the protection of its breeding sites.

Off-road vehicle An off-road vehicle, sometimes referred to as an overland or adventure vehicle, is considered to be any type of vehicle which is capable of driving on and off paved or gravel surface. It is generally characterized by having large tires with de ...

s commonly used in beach and dune

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are damaging to this species. Agricultural chemicals have caused declines in some areas. It is considered a species at risk in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, a species of special concern in the U.S. state of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, and a regionally threatened or endangered species in the states of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

and

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

References

External links

* *Vereecke M (2001)
''Anaxyrus fowleri''
(On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed 7 May 2012.
Fowler's Toad.
Royal Ontario Museum. {{Taxonbar, from=Q2324996 Anaxyrus Amphibians described in 1882 Amphibians of Canada Amphibians of the United States