Woodhouse's or Rocky Mountain Toad

[John]

Many of you are aware that I'm a big fan of Bufonid toads. On my many trips around the south central and southern US the toad I see most frequently, by far, is Woodhouse's Toad, also known as the Rocky Mountain Toad, Bufo woodhousii. Now there is a move by scientists to reclassify most American Bufo toads into the genus Anaxyrus, so it will become Anaxyrus woodhousii.

This toad is incredibly adapatable - while many other species of toads share habitat with them, Woodhouse's seem to adapt much more readily to new habitats and to human influence - Woodhouse's are often found in towns and in artificial habitats like golf courses and man-made parks.

Currently there are 3 described subspecies of Woodhouse's toad. They are visually very distinct from one another and they occupy different geographical habitat types.

Bufo woodhousii woodhousii (when both the species name and subspecies name are the same, we call this the nominate subspecies) is probably the most familiar. It goes by the name of Rocky Mountain Toad in some places, but to most it's known as simply Woodhouse's Toad. They occupy the central range of the species, north to south from Canada to south Texas (to northeastern Mexico). They vary in colour from dark brown to a light tan. This subspecies doesn't appear to specialise very much in its habitat choice - it can adapt to a lot of conditions and breeds in almost any temporary water body. Here's a male calling in Cleveland County, Central Oklahoma in spring 2009:



Bufo woodhousii velatus, the East Texas Toad, is found in east Texas and western Lousiana. There is some controversy over whether or not this is really a subspecies of woodhousii or simply a hybrid with Fowler's Toad, Bufo fowleri. Visually, at least to my eye, it's distinctly different to Fowler's Toad and I'm inclined to say it is a subspecies of Bufo woodhousii. East Texas Toads occupy areas of lush woodland, with a warm humid climate. Individuals tend to have some red on the upper part of their body and this one is a good example, photographed in Nacogdoches County, Texas, in early summer 2009:



The third subspecies is the Southwestern Woodhouse's Toad, Bufo woodhousii australis. This subspecies is found from far west Texas to the southeastern tip of California. It has adapted to arid desert life and has a colour scheme to match - they remind me of the German tank camouflage in North Africa that you see in the movies. This subspecies is a big jumper for a toad - quite surprised me when I first met one. This one is from El Paso County, Texas (and yes that is yellow on the legs!):



So quite an interesting looking toad, and certainly a contender for the most successful toad in the US, surviving when others don't and when other species succumb to man-made interference.

[Kurt]

The albinos you see for sale occasionally are which subspecies? I am asssuming the are A. woodhousii woodhousii.

[John]

I don't know - I've never seen one.

[Kurt]

I had one. I bought it one year at the Hamburg Reptile show, it didn't even last a month. I paid $50 for it. It got bloated and I brought it to the vet. Despite the antibiotics it still died.

[coltiger]

Which parts of Canada are these toads from? I am from Ontario and know only of American toads, I know that Fowler's are found near the border of the US(Michigan) and Canada. I know that Bufo americanus and Bufo fowleri are closely related and they do cross breed with each other. All my Bufo americanus that I have were collected at different locations. All are very similar however I did have a male that was solid olive green and very noisy lol

Those are awesome pictures, I love all Bufonid toads as well, I wish I had the time to collect them from other parts of Canada and the US.

[Kurt]

I find olive ones from time to time in my back yard here in Massachusetts.