Great Plains Toad
A medium-large toad that can be found in lower elevation, wetter areas of the state.
About This Species
The great plains toad can be found in areas with ground easy to burrow in and comes out to mate when the weather is right.
More Information:
Physical Characteristics
Skin with numerous small warts; prominent ridges on top of head, diverging rearward from hard lump on top of snout; long glandular lump behind each eye; upper side with somewhat symmetrical pattern of large, light-edged dark spots; often a somewhat sharp-edged tubercle and a smaller dark-tipped tubercle on underside of hind foot; head and body length of females up to 114 mm (4.5 inches), males usually less than 95 mm (3.7 inches).
Mature Male
Dark, loose throat skin and dark patch on inner surface of innermost toe of front feet during breeding season; expanded vocal sac large, long, may extend upward in front of face.
Juvenile
Warts reddish.
Range
Eastern Colorado and the San Luis Valley. Locally common.
Habitat
Plains grassland, sandhills, agricultural areas, and semidesert shrubland.
Reproduction
Breeding Call
A long, continuous trill or pulsating ringing sound (at close range, similar to ear-splitting sound of jackhammer) lasting at least several seconds; varies somewhat with temperature and size of male; loud nasal quacks sometimes precede trill (San Luis Valley).
Larvae
Upper side initially blackish, then becomes paler and mottled brown and gray dorsally; under magnification, dark upper skin may have an overlying golden suffusion; pattern of large paired blotches appears on upper side before metamorphosis is complete; eyes high on head; upper tail fin highly arched; fins clear with some black lines, mainly in upper fin, sometimes extensively mottled in upper and lower fins, or upper fin heavily pigmented and ventral fin clear or very sparsely pigmented; muscular part of tail lacks an unpigmented band along the lower margin; upper jaw strongly arched; usually 2 rows of tiny teeth on upper lip, 3 rows on lower lip; third tooth row on lower lip (i.e., the one farthest from jaws) considerably shorter than first row on lower lip; usually less than 30 mm (1.2 inches) long, but up to at least 35 mm (1.4 inches).
Eggs
Usually in a single row in long strings of two-layered jelly that is constricted between the eggs; partitions separate eggs from each other; usually laid in shallow water.
Life History
Breeds mainly in late spring and early summer, in pools, ponds, and reservoirs filled or enlarged by heavy rains or flooding. Larvae metamorphose into small toads usually 2.5-5 weeks after the eggs were laid.