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Wyoming Toad

Here's the scoop about the Wyoming Toad (Bufo baxteri):


What do they look like?
Wyoming toads are a type of frog which is classified as an amphibian.  They are short round animals with dry skin covered with big warts. The toads are brown, gray or greenish in color with small dark blotches. The males have a dark patch on their throat.  Adult Wyoming toads average 55mm (2.2
inches) in length, with the females being a little bit bigger than the males.  That would be about the size of a racquetball. Females weigh approximately 35g and males are 25g. 

Where are they found?

The Laramie Basin in Albany County, Wyoming is the only place in the world this toad can be found.


What kind of habitat do they live?
The Wyoming toad live on the floodplains and the short grass edges of ponds and lakes, also known as wetlands.

What do they eat?
As tadpoles, they are herbivores eating algae.  But as adults, they are carnivores eating things like ants, beetles and other bugs.


How do they survive?
This amphibian has a special way of adapting to life in Wyoming like a short period of activity. Adults come out of hibernation in May when the daytime temperatures are above 70F. Males attract females with their calls and breeding occurs from mid-May to mid-June. Strings of 2,000 to 5,000 dark eggs are laid in the water. The eggs hatch in less than a week. The tadpoles metamorph into toads in 4-6 weeks. The toads then move back into hibernation in mid-September.  This means the toads are only out of their hibernation homes from May to mid-September.  The rest of the time, it is too cold.  Talk about no time to waste?

Population of species?
The Wyoming Toad was considered to be extinct in the wild.  Good news is that it is now on the return from extinction.  

Go here to find out
What happened? to the Wyoming Toads.

 

 

Tawny Frogmouth


I’m not fast, but I can catch and eat bugs.
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