A few Toadlet pics

[LilyPad]

I have no idea Pete LOL They all look the same to me still! My kids could probably tell you though.

nicodimus, fowler's and eastern american toads look very similar. Based on their range though and the species of toads found abundantly throughout my yard, it is definitely Eastern American Toads. There are very few distinguishing characteristics between them, and being this tiny, it makes it extra difficult to id!

[lnaminneci]

Amy,

They are sooo darling that tiny! So which one is Clar- reeeeece.

~Lesley

[Lacibeth]

One of the handy identifying tools for toads is the shape of the cranial crests which will become more distinctive with age.

[nicodimus22]

Gah. I thought the multiple warts in the dark patches of skin and the daytime activity were
enough to nail down the ID between the two species. Guess I'll have to wait until they grow
some more to know for sure what they are, because right now they are so little that I can't
get a close enough look at their head/neck to see any of that stuff. I am still sticking with
my original guess for the moment, as it fits everything I have seen so far the best.

[Lacibeth]

Gah. I thought the multiple warts in the dark patches of skin and the daytime activity were
enough to nail down the ID between the two species. Guess I'll have to wait until they grow
some more to know for sure what they are, because right now they are so little that I can't
get a close enough look at their head/neck to see any of that stuff. I am still sticking with
my original guess for the moment, as it fits everything I have seen so far the best.

It all adds up for a positive ID. If it's any consolation I had a handful of freshly morphed toadlets the other day that were about the size of my thumbnail and the kids wanted an iron-clad definitive identification. Eek!

[LilyPad]

Thank you Lesley, they are too cute! Which is why I got suckered in (despite releasing the tadpoles in the first place because I DIDN'T want toads) Their personalities amaze me though, and I'm really happy we have them.

Nicodimus, the Eastern American toad can have multiple warts, but generally no more than two in the patches, so if you have 3+ in those patches, you likely have Fowler's, but like you said, growth and time will only help to secure a good id. I'm pretty sure myself though because of the thousand of Eastern American adult toads living in my yard.

[nicodimus22]

After letting my toads grow for a while and making some observations recently, I now think I have American toadlets.

-Parotid glands seem moderately far away from the eyes. I can't see a cranial crest yet, but even if it was there, it looks like
there would still be space between the gland and the crest. You can see in this pic that there is a lot of space there:






-Speckled belly points to American. Fowler's have either a completely white belly, or 1 dark spot in the center:





-It looks like most dark patches of skin only have 1 or 2 warts in them. The first toadlet has some larger markings on its
back that are still a little questionable, but other than that it seems conclusive. Also, American toads have some
prominent warts on the back legs, but on a Fowler's toad, the leg warts are all uniform size:






I probably should have waited for them to grow a little bit at first before proclaiming them to be Fowler's,
but at the time I saw things that made me think I had a match, and they do look incredibly similar when they're so small.