Scaphiopus couchii
Baird, 1854
Val Verde Co., Texas. May 23, 1997
Spadefoot toads spend a great deal of their time buried in the soil, waiting for the rains to come. When it does rain, they emerge and breed frantically in temporary pools of water. They feed and are active as long as the water remains, but then return to their subterranean existence. Spadefoot tadpoles, meanwhile, rapidly develop into frogs (despite the name, they’re frogs) in a matter of days; indeed, they have the shortest development cycle of any amphibian. The couchii pictured here were found in 2006 along the roadsides during the summer monsoon season in southeastern Arizona. The top specimen is a male; the bottom, a female.
My Flickr album for this species is here.
HerpMapper records for this species are here.
