Yosemite Toad

About the Yosemite Toad

The Yosemite toad (Anaxyrus canorus, formerly Bufo canorus) is a species of true toad in the family Bufonidae. Endemic to the Sierra Nevada of California, the species ranges from the Alpine County to Fresno County. Yosemite toads are only found in the montane to subalpine elevational zone of 1,950–3,445 m (6,398–11,302 ft) asl. The Yosemite toad is similar to the nearby western toad (A. boreas), but in many ways adapted to a high elevation lifestyle. It was initially described during the Grinnell Survey of California, by an undergraduate student of Joseph Grinnell named Charles Camp.

Yosemite toads are medium-sized (48–84 millimetres or 1.9–3.3 inches SVL) stocky toads, with females averaging larger than males. They generally lack cranial crests, but males will rarely have weakly developed ones. Their eyes have a dark brown iris with gold iridophores. In comparison with the closely related western toad (A. boreas), the parotoid glands are large, narrowly spaced, and irregularly shaped (oval or flattened), less than one gland width apart. Like the parotoids, the eyes are spaced narrowly apart, usually less than the width of the upper eyelid. The warts... Wikipedia →