Anaxyrus baxteri (Porter, 1968)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Bufonidae > Genus: Anaxyrus > Species: Anaxyrus baxteri

Bufo hemiophrys baxteri Porter, 1968, Evolution, 22: 593. Holotype: K.R. Porter Collection 5-164, now USNM 166434 according to Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 294. Type locality: "0.5 mile NW Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming".

Bufo baxteriPackard, 1971, J. Herpetol., 5: 191–193; Collins, 1991, Herpetol. Rev., 22: 43; Collins, 1997, Herpetol. Circ., 25: 11.

Anaxyrus baxteriFrost, Grant, Faivovich, Bain, Haas, Haddad, de Sá, Channing, Wilkinson, Donnellan, Raxworthy, Campbell, Blotto, Moler, Drewes, Nussbaum, Lynch, Green, and Wheeler, 2006, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 297: 363.

Bufo (Anaxyrus) baxteri — Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 294. See comment under Bufonidae regarding how this arrangement is part of a a system that requires widespread paraphyly. 

Common Names

Wyoming Toad (Collins, Huheey, Knight, and Smith, 1978, Herpetol. Circ., 7: 10; Collins, 1997, Herpetol. Circ., 25: 11; Crother, Boundy, Campbell, de Queiroz, Frost, Highton, Iverson, Meylan, Reeder, Seidel, Sites, Taggart, Tilley, and Wake, 2001 "2000", Herpetol. Circ., 29: 7; Stebbins, 2003, Field Guide W. Rept. Amph., Ed. 3: 217; Collins and Taggart, 2009, Standard Common Curr. Sci. Names N. Am. Amph. Turtles Rept. Crocodil., ed. 6: 6; Frost, McDiarmid, Mendelson, and Green, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 12; Frost, Lemmon, McDiarmid, and Mendelson, 2017, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 43: 7).

Baxter's Toad (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 40).

Distribution

Laramie Basin of southeast-central Wyoming, USA; apparently now extirpated from the vicinity of Porter Lake and now only known from the vicinity of Mortenson Lake. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: United States of America, United States of America - Wyoming

Endemic: United States of America, United States of America - Wyoming

Comment

Recognized as a distinct species, rather than a subspecies of Bufo hemiophrys by Packard, 1971, J. Herpetol., 5: 191–193, and most recently by Smith, Chiszar, Collins, and Van Breukelen, 1998, Contemp. Herpetol., 1998: 1. Nevertheless, Cook, 1983, Publ. Nat. Sci. Natl. Mus. Canada, 3, considered Bufo baxteri to be undiagnosable within the context of geographic variation within Bufo hemiophrys (as Bufo americanus hemiophrys) and this has not been adequately addressed by subsequent authors (DRF). See map, description of geographic range and habitat, and conservation status (as Bufo baxteri) in Odum and Corn, 2005, in Lannoo (ed.), Amph. Declines: 390–392, and Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 137. Dodd, 2013, Frogs U.S. and Canada, 1: 43–47, provided an account that summarized relevant literature. Elliot, Gerhardt, and Davidson, 2009, Frogs and Toads of N. Am.: 158–159, provided an account, photos, and advertisement call.  

External links:

Please note: these links will take you to external websites not affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History. We are not responsible for their content.