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Oak Toad
Colour.—Rich dark brown or grey-brown, with a distinct white or yellow vertebral streak extending forward to the margin of the upper jaw. The warts along this light line may be tipped with vivid red and orange, as are also those on the posterior part of the eyelid and on the sides of the body. Four pairs of black spots--irregular, elongated, white-edged--lie along the vertebral line. The first spots are on the top of the head. Underparts grayish white, unspotted. Throat of male dusky. Light band from end of parotoid gland backward. A broad black band on the side of the body is made conspicuous by this white above and the white of the underparts. Bright orange on palms of hands and soles of feet; also some orange on under surface of femur. Sole tubercles black. Legs irregularly spotted or banded with black.
Measurements.—Size small, i. e. length of adult 1 1/4 inches. Head short, its length contained in total length four times. Legs extremely short; length to heel not equalling length of body forward to the arm insertion. Femur almost concealed in the skin of the body, tibia not much longer.
Structure.—Exposed surface everywhere thickly set with warts of varying degrees of minuteness. These warts cover the head and eyelids, back, sides, legs, and arms. Those on the forearm and tarsus are spinous. The palms of the hands and soles of the feet are finely tubercular. Underparts everywhere granulated, even the throat. The parotoid glands are oval and long (three times length of eye), extending down on the sides. The bony crests of the head are parallel and widely separated. They extend backward close to the inner edges of the orbits; their ends bend abruptly inward, a little beyond the anterior ends of the parotoid glands. The ridges back of the eyes and those extending backward to the parotoid glands are well marked. The inner sole tubercle is fairly large, considering the diminutive size of the foot. The outer tubercle is small. The webs are very short.
Range.—Bufo quercicus has been reported from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. (Beaufort and Kinston, N. C.; Charleston, S. C.; Green Cove springs, Little Sarasota Bay, Arlington, Milton, Oakland, Ozona, and Kissimee, Fla)
Colour.—Greyish or brownish green, of either light or dark shade. The sparsely scattered small warts are orange in colour, sometimes rimmed with dark. Underparts light. The throat and breast of the female are mottled with grey. Iris light or dark metallic yellow, with a prominent veining of red. The iris is dark in front of and behind the oval black pupil. Fingers and toes tipped with black or red-brown. (For colouration, see Colour Plate V.)
Measurements.—Size large, i.e. length 5 inches or more. The head is short. Its length is contained 3 1/2 to 4 times in the total length. Legs relatively short; the length of the leg to the heel is not equal to the length of the body forward to the ear. Femur very short. Tibia somewhat longer than femur. Foot very little longer than tibia.
Structure.—Skin leathery and smooth. Head rounded in front. The ear is a very distinct vertical oval. The bony crests of the head are conspicuous, curved ridges. There is one on each side, which follows the upper border of the eye and curves outward and downward to the ear. The parotoids are long and oval, greatly elevated, and very wide apart at their posterior ends. They are separated from the eye by the width of the crest only. Small, flat, rounded warts are scattered over the whole upper surface. There is a large oval wart on the femur and a long one--or a line of shorter ones--on the tibia (along the margin that is nearest the femur when the leg is folded). These glands are considerably elevated, and are very conspicuous. There may be a gland similar to these on the forearm. There are one or more round or oval white warts behind the angle of the jaw. The foot is thick and has a conspicuous ridge along the inner edge of the tarsus. Both inner and outer sole tubercles are present. The web is short and thick; it extends to the tips of the toes, but is deeply indented. There are two very large palm tubercles.
Range.—Bufo alvarius is reported from southern California (Fort Yuma) and Arizona (Phoenix).
Colour.—Variable; often rich brown, with three broad bands of cream colour or yellowish grey extending from the head to the posterior end of the body. The central band is straight; the others are curved, extending from the eyes backward over the parotoids, then downward on the sides, following the lateral outlines of the body. The eye varies between gold and bright coppery red. Light colour along the jaw and over the shoulder. There may be a few irregularly placed black or bright orange spots on the back. Usually, a long and narrow, yellow-bordered spot transversely placed back of the eyes between the bony ridges. Legs and arms may be banded or spotted. Underparts light or dark, unspotted. (For possible colouration, see Colour Plate V.)