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Anaxyrus americanus
The cranial crest is not well developed in this presumably juvenile specimen so that character cannot be used to determine identity between the similar Fowler's and American toads. However another character tends toward the American toad (formerly Bufo americanus). American toads have 1-2 warts per spot, whereas Fowler's has 3-4 warts per spot. This specimen was spotted in the heart of the range of dwarf American toad (Anaxyrus americanus charlesmithi) subspecies (southern Missouri) but given its small size and that there are known intergrades of the eastern American toad subspecies in the state, I hesitate to speculate further.
In the peripheral garden surrounding the visitor center, Mingo National Wildlife Refuge. Surrounding habitat: a small area of glade backed by upland oak-hickory forest.
Spotted on Sep 28, 2014
Submitted on Sep 30, 2014
2 Comments
Yes Ashley it was quite small. OK, I'll go with that. Thanks.
Was this a little guy? Doesn't look like his cranial crests are well developed yet. In those cases, just best to go off the second best character: the number of warts per dark spot. Based on that, I'd go with American :) You can also look at the spotting on the chest if you can catch them. Fowler's has a single spot whereas American has a mottled chest.