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California Toad
Colour.—Dusky and unspotted above, or light and conspicuously spotted (even on hands and feet). When light, the colour may be yellow, grey or green, in tone. Eye bright metallic yellow. There is a vertebral streak. The larger warts are coloured like the background, have red-brown centres, and are set in the black spots. Legs spotted or barred. Toes tipped with brown. Underparts dingy white, spotted with black. Male may be nearly black on the underparts.
Measurements.—Size large, i.e. length 4 to 5 inches; female larger than male. Head relatively short, about quarter the total length. Legs short, those of the female shorter relatively than those of the male. The femur scarcely shows outside the skin of the body. Length of leg to heel equals length of body forward to the ear. Fingers do not vary greatly in length. Fifth toe slightly shorter than third.
Structure.—Skin with scattered low rounded warts of medium or large size, skin smooth and shining between the warts. Warts distributed everywhere, on legs and feet, on head and eyelids. Large glandular elevations on the tibia. Outline of jaw rounded. Length of head in front of eye not greater than the long diameter of the eye. Descent of muzzle steep in front and under eye. Upper jaw indented in the midline. Muzzle projects slightly beyond the jaw. Nostrils on a vertical line with the jaw. No bony crests on the head. Space between the eyes greater than the width of the eyelid. Eye large. Ear round, small (one-third to one-half diameter of eye.) Arms of male very muscular. Palm with one large and one smaller tubercle; also closely set with many small tubercles. The tubercles under some of the finger-joints are prominent, i.e., first and second fingers have one each, third and fourth, two each. First, second and third fingers of male black and horny on their inner margins. Foot thick and broad; tarsal fold from heel to base of inner toe. Toes broadly webbed, webs variable in their amount of indentation. Both outer and inner sole tubercles large.
Colour.—Variable; dull or warm browns, greys or greens. There is a wide vertebral streak, also a conspicuous patch of light colour under the eye, passing obliquely to the jaw. (Fig. 133.) Touches of light or bright colour may be found in the following places: on the parotoids and warts, on the sides of the toad, at the angles of the jaw, and on the forearm and tibia. This light colour varies with the background; it may be orange (or reddish), greenish, white, or yellow. Eye bright orange-yellow. There may be a light band from parotoid backward. Underparts closely spotted, with black everywhere, even on throat and under-surfaces of arms and legs. (Fig. 131.) Tubercles of feet black. Fingers and toes tipped with black or red-brown.
Measurements.—Size large, i. e. length 2 1/2 to 5 inches. Head short, its length contained about four times in the total length. Space between the eyes greater than width of eyelid. Head relatively long in front of eyes. Arms long; forearm conspicuously longer than the hand. (Fig. 132.) Length of leg to heel equals length of body forward to parotoid or eye. Tibia not greatly longer than femur.
Structure.—Skin very warty, and tubercular between the warts. Warts relatively large, round, often set in short rows running lengthwise along the back. (Fig. 133.) Large, light-coloured warts at the angle of the jaw. No head crests. (Fig. 132.) Top of head flat, warty; eyelids warty. Tibia with one or more larger warts or glandular elevations resembling the parotoids. Even the buttocks and posterior surfaces of the femurs are covered with large tubercles. Head rounded in front. Muzzle not projecting beyond jaw, but sloping gradually downward, both in front and under the eyes. (Fig. 133.) Upper jaw indented in the midline. Eyes set wide apart. Ear round, one-half to two-thirds the diameter of the eye: set under anterior end of parotoid and separated from the eye by a narrow bony crest. Parotoid a short oval, with a narrow neck leading to the eye. (Fig. 133.) Hand with one large and one small palm tubercle. (Fig. 131.) Each finger may have the joint nearest the palm marked with a conspicuous double tubercle. Foot thick, with a strong tarsal ridge, and with two prominent sole tubercles. Sole very thickly covered with depressed warts. Toes webbed to their tips, but webs deeply indented.
Range.—Type locality Columbia River and Puget Sound. Reported from Portland, Oregon, and Friday Harbor, Washington.
Range; Type locality, Benicia, California. Reported from San Francisco, southern California, and Lower California. It has been found east of the Sierras also.
Bufo halophilus is a very large, tame-looking toad. On dark, cool days, it is so dark a dull grey or olive that the spots are wholly obliterated--only the low rounded warts show. The colour below becomes dark to correspond with that above. The parotoids and the glands on the tibia are more distinct in this dark phase of colouration than in the light. On bright warm days the toad is a very different-looking creature. It is clay-colour or light yellowish green, with a pronounced spotting of black or dark brown, and the warts are brownish-red centred.