Fowler's Toad

Here we found a couple fowler's toads, Anaxyrus fowleri, in amplexus. We were able to identify them by their skin, these toads have 3 or more warts per spot. Also their cranial crests come into contact with their paratoid glands, which are both characters that differ from the American Toad. We were also able to sex the individuals, the female obviously is on the bottom, but she is also much bigger than the male. The male has a dark chin, as you can see in the picture, while the females venter is all light colored. During the breeding season, which is the warmer months, April-July, the males migrate to shallow ponds or other water bodies and call to attract females. These toads are known to burrow during the day and come out at night to eat insects and other small invertebrates. A couple ways they defend themselves are by having amazing camaflouge, gland secretions that irritate the predator when the toad is in their mouth which usually causes them to be spit out and they have also been reported to roll over and play dead. They are pretty common, I have seen them all my life, so it is not too exciting now when I see them. However, the other night it was really warm and rainy and I could hear males calling in the distance and I found about 15 females in my driveway all heading towards the calling males, which was pretty interesting. Also it is fun now to determine if they are fowler's toads or american toads.
JENA FAY, TN