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Project Noah Nature School
Anaxyrus americanus
I think it's an American Toad - but not 100% sure. Very lightly colored. Ohio in May.
Grassy area surrounded by woodland.
Spotted on May 30, 2011
Submitted on Feb 22, 2015
3 Comments
The only character I can see a little of is the back to see the warts per dark spot, and based on that I would agree with you on American. It isn't always 100% reliable, that's why you should look at the other characters first, but it's all we've got for this guy haha. So American toads have 1-2 wart per most black spots, whereas a Fowler's toad would have 3+ per dark spot. Hope that makes sense :)
Thanks, Ashley. I added two more photos, but I'm not sure if they're close enough or at the right angle. But your description really helps for the future when I'm trying to photograph toads for ID.
Do you have any other photos of this guy? Tough angle to ID from! For toads, the best way to ID them is to be able to see the top of the head to see the shape of the parotoid glands and how they connect (or don't connect) to the cranial crests. Second best character is to look at the belly to see whether it is speckled or just has a single spot. Sometimes the speckling is minimal and faint, so I wouldn't call it either way on this guy. Then third best character is to look at the back to see how many warts are in each dark spot. So photos of the top of head, the back, or the belly are all good :)