Conserving and restoring at risk species and ecosystems on the BC South Coast
Western Toad
Anaxyrus boreas
A member of the family Bufonidae (“true toads”), this species is also referred to as “Boreal Toad”. True toads are toothless and generally “warty” in appearance and have a “parotoid” gland that excretes an alkaloid poison “bufotoxin” when the animal is stressed. All male toads possess a “Bidder's organ”. Under the right conditions the organ becomes an active ovary and the toad, in effect, becomes female.
COSEWIC: SC BC List: Yellow
Length (snout to vent): Males 6-11 cm, Females 12.5 cm. Unlike most frogs, toads have soft, somewhat dry, bumpy skin. Adult Western Toads tend be stout with thick forelimbs. Colour ranges from tan to light brown, grey, or greenish on top. Markings are a few dark spots to extensive mottling, warts may be reddish. A thin, cream coloured dorsal stripe runs down the centre of the back (most prominent in mature females; may be absent or inconspicuous in juveniles), which may have reddish warts). The oval-shaped parotoid glands behind the eyes are discernable, even in recently metamorphosed toads (“toadlets”). The glands excrete a mildly toxic substance used to ward off would be predators. The hind feet have horny tubercles used for burrowing and are yellowish or orange in juveniles. Males are more accurately distinguished by their smaller size, narrower head, longer forearms and dark nuptial pads on thumbs. The nuptial pads are used while grasping females during breeding in a position known as “amplexus”. Males lack vocal sacs but may produce repeated chirping sounds if grasped by hand (females usually are silent or emit few chirps). Tadpoles are black or dark brown and relatively small (1.2 – 3 cm, 2.5-3 cm total length prior to metamorphosis). The snout is square and the eyes are set about midway between the dorsal midline and edge of the head. The tailfin is narrow compared to tadpoles of species like Northern Red-legged Frog and may be heavily speckled with gray or black.
RESOURCES
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