Eastern Spadefoot Toad

Scaphiopus holbrookii

Conservation Status:

State Status: Critically Imperiled (NatureServe, 2024)

State Listing: Endangered (DEEP, 2015)

Global Assessment: Least Concern (IUCN, 2021)

Photographed by Dr. Max Lambert

Listen to call:

(ThatAnimalGuy, 2019)

Description

Eastern spadefoots are not true toads, having smoother, moist skin and vertical pupils. These are smaller frogs, growing to be around two inches long (Watkins-Colwell, 2024). They range from tan to gray in color, with two light stripes running from behind the eyes down the back which resemble the shape of an hourglass. They have a black spur on their hind feet that is used for burrowing.

Habitat

Spadefoots live in areas with sandy soil and vegetation. They live inside burrows. There are few populations known in Connecticut.

Behavior

This species spends most of its life underground in burrows. During the warmer months they may come out on rainy nights to hunt or mate. This secretive lifestyle makes it very hard to spot one of these frogs.

They will eat small invertebrates such as worms, insects, and arachnids. When threatened they can inflate their body to appear larger, and can release a toxin from their parotoid glands (the oval-shaped bumps directly behind each eye) that cause them to be released. (Quinn 2020).

Heavy rain will prompt breeding in this species, and males will call out to females from vernal pools. Eggs are laid in strings. Spadefoots go through metamorphosis quickly, taking around three weeks from the time an egg is laid to becoming a fully metamorphosed frog.

Range

References

Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. (2015, August 5). Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern Amphibians. Connecticut. https://portal.ct.gov/deep/endangered-species/endangered-species-listings/endangered-threatened--special-concern-amphibians.

iNaturalist. (2024). Observations. California Academy of the Sciences / National Geographic Society. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=49&taxon_id=26695.

International Union for Conservation Of Nature and Natural Resources. (2021, February 10). Eastern Spadefoot. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/59042/196336701.

Klemens, M. W. et al. (2021). Conservation of Amphibians and Reptiles in Connecticut. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. https://ctdeepstore.com/products/conservation-of-amphibians-reptiles-in-connecticut.

NatureServe. (2024, November 1). Scaphiopus holbrookii. https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100521/Scaphiopus_holbrookii.

Quinn, D. P. (2020). Eastern Spadefoot. Connecticut Herpetology. https://www.ctherpetology.com/eastern-spadefoot.

ThatAnimalGuy. (2019, April 25). Eastern Spadefoot Toad Calling (Scaphiopus holbrooki). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkeJkxAMbeI.

Watkins-Colwell, G. J. (2024). Eastern Spadefoot Toad - Scaphiopus holbrooki. Yale Peabody Museum. https://peabody.yale.edu/explore/collections/herpetology/guide-amphibians-reptiles-connecticut.

Watkins-Colwell, G. J. et al. (2006). New Distribution Records for Amphibians and Reptiles in Connecticut, with Notes on the Status of an Introduced Species. Sacred Heart University. https://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1058&context=bio_fac.

Page updated November 16, 2024