Anaxyrus debilis (Girard, 1854)

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

Bufo debilis Girard, 1854, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 7: 87. Syntypes: Not formally designated, but USNM 2621 (8 specimens) and 2620 (lost) according to Kellogg, 1932, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 160: 52 (but see Bogert, 1962, Am. Mus. Novit., 2100: 1–2, and Cochran, 1961, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 220: 33, who listed only 7 specimens). Type locality: "lower part of the valley of the Rio Bravo (Rio Grande del Norte), and in the province [state] of Tamaulipas", Mexico; discussed by Kellogg, 1932, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 160: 51–52, who noted that the data associated with USNM 2620 are "between the Salado River (which empties into the Rio Grande near the town of Guerrero in Tamaulipas) and Camargo in Tamaulipas", Mexico and that 2621 (originally a lot of 8 newly metamorphosed young) are from "Matamoros in the State of Tamaulipas", Mexico. Erroneously reported as restricted to vicinity of Brownsville, Texas, USA, by Sanders and Smith, 1951, Field and Laboratory, 19: 142, by Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 63, and Hillis, 1985, in Frost (ed.), Amph. Species World: 43, according to Flores-Villela, 1993, Spec. Publ. Carnegie Mus. Nat. Hist., 17: 70.

Bufo insidior Girard, 1854, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 7: 87. Syntypes: USNM 2622 (2 specimens), according to Kellogg, 1932, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 160: 52 (but see Bogert, 1962, Am. Mus. Novit., 2100: –2). Type locality: "in Chihuahua . . . by Thos. H. Webb, attached to ... the survey of the U.S. and Mex. boundary line", Mexico. Synonymy by Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 289; Cope, 1886, Proc. Am. Philos. Soc., 23: 514.

Bufo insidior — Taylor, 1938 "1936", Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 24: 513.

Bufo debilis insidior — Smith, 1950, Misc. Publ. Mus. Nat. Hist. Univ. Kansas, 2: 75.

Bufo debilis debilis — Smith, 1950, Misc. Publ. Mus. Nat. Hist. Univ. Kansas, 2: 75.

Anaxyrus debilis — Frost, 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.

Anaxyrus debilis debilis — Frost, McDiarmid, and Mendelson, 2008, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 37: 3.

Anaxyrus debilis insidior — Frost, McDiarmid, and Mendelson, 2008, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 37: 3.

Bufo (Anaxyrus) debilis — Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 300. See comment under Bufonidae regarding how this arrangement is part of a a system that requires widespread paraphyly. 

Common Names

Sonora Toad (Yarrow, 1882, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 24: 22).

Dwarf Toad (Smith, 1934, Am. Midl. Nat., 15: 443).

Green Toad (Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 63; Conant, Cagle, Goin, Lowe, Neill, Netting, Schmidt, Shaw, Stebbins, and Bogert, 1956, Copeia, 1956: 176; Stebbins, 1966, Field Guide W. North Am. Rept. Amph.: 65; Collins, Huheey, Knight, and Smith, 1978, Herpetol. Circ., 7: 10; Liner, 1994, Herpetol. Circ., 23: 17; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 41; 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; Frost, McDiarmid, and Mendelson, 2008, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 37: 3; Liner and Casas-Andreu, 2008, Herpetol. Circ., 38: 7; Collins and Taggart, 2009, Standard Common Curr. Sci. Names N. Am. Amph. Turtles Rept. Crocodil., ed. 6: 6).

Little Green Toad (Strecker, 1915, Baylor Univ. Bull., 18: 50; Wright and Wright, 1933, Handb. Frogs Toads U.S. Canada: x; Stebbins, 1951, Amph. W. North Am.: 259).

Chihuahuan Green Toad (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: 8).

Eastern Chihuahuan Green Toad (Anaxyrus debilis debilis: Frost, McDiarmid, Mendelson, and Green, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 12).

Little Green Toad (Bufo debilis debilis: Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 63; Conant, Cagle, Goin, Lowe, Neill, Netting, Schmidt, Shaw, Stebbins, and Bogert, 1956, Copeia, 1956: 176).

Eastern Green Toad (Bufo debilis debilis: Conant, 1975, Field Guide Rept. Amph. E. Cent. N. Am., Ed. 2: 314; Collins, Huheey, Knight, and Smith, 1978, Herpetol. Circ., 7: 10; Liner, 1994, Herpetol. Circ., 23: 17; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 41; 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; Frost, McDiarmid, and Mendelson, 2008, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 37: 3; Liner and Casas-Andreu, 2008, Herpetol. Circ., 38: 8; Collins and Taggart, 2009, Standard Common Curr. Sci. Names N. Am. Amph. Turtles Rept. Crocodil., ed. 6: 6; Frost, Lemmon, McDiarmid, and Mendelson, 2017, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 43: 8).

Western Chihuahuan Green Toad (Anaxyrus debilis insidior: 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: 8).

Western Green Toad (Bufo debilis insidior: Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 63; Conant, Cagle, Goin, Lowe, Neill, Netting, Schmidt, Shaw, Stebbins, and Bogert, 1956, Copeia, 1956: 176; Stebbins, 1966, Field Guide W. North Am. Rept. Amph.: 65; Conant, 1975, Field Guide Rept. Amph. E. Cent. N. Am., Ed. 2: 314; Collins, Huheey, Knight, and Smith, 1978, Herpetol. Circ., 7: 10; Liner, 1994, Herpetol. Circ., 23: 17; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 41; 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; Frost, McDiarmid, and Mendelson, 2008, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 37: 3; Liner and Casas-Andreu, 2008, Herpetol. Circ., 38: 8; Collins and Taggart, 2009, Standard Common Curr. Sci. Names N. Am. Amph. Turtles Rept. Crocodil., ed. 6: 6).

Distribution

Southeastern Arizona and adjacent extreme northeastern Sonora (Mexico) east through much of southern and eastern New Mexico to southeastern eastern Colorado and western Kansas (USA) and south through central and western Texas to Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Durango, and Zacatecas (Mexico).

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Mexico, United States of America, United States of America - Arizona, United States of America - Colorado, United States of America - Kansas, United States of America - New Mexico, United States of America - Oklahoma, United States of America - Texas

Comment

In the Bufo debilis group of Martin, 1972, in Blair (ed.), Evol. Genus Bufo: 53. See comment under Anaxyrus punctatus. See accounts in Sanders and Smith, 1951, Field and Laboratory, 19: 141–160, and Bogert, 1962, Am. Mus. Novit., 2100: 1–37. The nominal subspecies (Anaxyrus debilis debilis and Anaxyrus debilis insidior) are unlikely to be more than arbitrarily defined sections of clines (DRF). Sullivan, 1984, J. Herpetol., 18: 406–411, reported on advertisement call variation. Stebbins, 2003, Field Guide W. Rept. Amph., Ed. 3: 217, provided a brief account, figure, and map. Farr, Lazcano, and Lavín-Murcio, 2009, Herpetol. Rev., 40: 459–467, provided new records for Tamaulipas, Mexico, and commented on the range. Painter, 2005, in Lannoo (ed.), Amph. Declines: 404–406, provided a detailed account, map, and summary of conservation status. Lemos-Espinal, 2007, Anf. Rept. Chihuahua Mexico: 35-36, provided an account for Chihuahua, Mexico. Lemos-Espinal and Smith, 2007, Anf. Rept. Coahuila México: 38–39, provided an account (as Bufo debilis) for Coahuila, Mexico. Oliver-López, Woolrich-Piña, and Lemos-Espinal, 2009, Fam. Bufonidae Mex.: 34–37, provided an account for Mexico although the range map showing an extension west across the Sierra Madre Occidental into southern Sinaloa is extremely doubtful and requires verification (DRF). Lemos-Espinal and Dixon, 2013, Amphibians and Reptiles of San Luis Potosí: 35–36, provided an account for San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Dodd, 2013, Frogs U.S. and Canada, 1: 88–91, provided an account that summarized relevant literature of the populations in the USA. Elliot, Gerhardt, and Davidson, 2009, Frogs and Toads of N. Am.: 164–165, provided an account, photos, and advertisement call. Altig and McDiarmid, 2015, Handb. Larval Amph. US and Canada: 179, provided an account of larval morphology and biology. Rorabaugh and Lemos-Espinal, 2016, Field Guide Amph. Rept. Sonora: 121–123, provided a detailed account of natural history, morphology, and conservation status in Sonora, Mexico. Lemos-Espinal, Smith, and Valdes-Lares, 2019, Amph. Rept. Durango: 49, provided a brief account for Durango, Mexico. Hernandez, Herr, Stevens, Cork, Medina-Nava, Vialpando, Warfel, Fields, Brodie, and Graham, 2019, Check List, 15: 81, provided a recog for Ojinaga and Manuel Benavides municipalities, north-eastern Chihuahua, Mexico. Painter, Stuart, Giermakowski, and Pierce, 2017, Western Wildlife, 4: 35, commented on the status and county range in New Mexico, USA. Bassett, 2023, Reptiles & Amphibians, 30(e18486): 1–18, provided an updated county distribution map for Texas, USA.      

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