Texas toad
species of amphibian
The Texas toad (Anaxyrus speciosus) is a species of medium-sized (to 9 cm (3.5 in)) toad that occurs in the southern United States and northern Mexico. It breeds in temporary water pools after heavy rains.
Distribution and habitat
The Texas toad is native to the United States where it is found in the state of Texas, wherein 2009 it was designated as the Texas State Amphibian, its range also extends northward to Oklahoma, westward to New Mexico and southward to northern Mexico. It is a desert species and is found in dry grassland, savannahs with scattered mesquite and open woodland, usually on sandy or frequently inundated soils.
Description
Males measure 52–78 mm (2.0–3.1 in) and females 54–91 mm (2.1–3.6 in) in snout–vent length.
Ecology
The Texas toad feeds on insects such as beetles, ants and bugs. It digs a burrow in soft soil and can bury itself in mud. It sometimes conceals itself in a gopher burrow, under a log or in a deep crack in the mud to prevent desiccation, spending much of its time dormant in prolonged dry weather.
Breeding occurs after heavy rains when male frogs congregate at temporary pools, ditches, cattle tanks and other wet places and call continuously, especially at night. The call is described as being a "series of explosive trills", each lasting for about one and a half seconds with intervals of one second.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Texas toad” as species of amphibian. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as species of amphibian. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q28032645. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2009.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Texas toad” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.