Species Fact Profile: Colorado River Toad (Incilus alvarius)

                                     Colorado River (Sonoran Desert) Toad

                                           Incilius alvarius (Girard, 1859)

Range: Southwestern United States, northwestern Mexico

Habitat: Desert, Semi-Desert.  Usually found near water, such as irrigation ditches

Diet: Invertebrates (especially beetles), Small Vertebrates

Social Grouping: Asocial

Reproduction: Breeding triggered by rainfalls, usually in July.  Congregate around temporary bodies of water to breed; the males gives his (very weak) call.  Female lays up to 8,000 jelly-like eggs in strings, deposited in still or slow-moving bodies of water.  Tadpoles hatch in 2-12 days.  Metamorphosis complete in 6-10 weeks.

Lifespan: 10-20 Years

      Conservation Status: IUCN Least Concern

• Largest native toad in the United States (the introduced cane toad is larger), measuring 18-20 centimeters long and weighing 300 grams
• Greenish-brown with some mottling; a few large, wartlike growths, especially on the hind legs, but skin is overall fairly smooth and leathery.  White lump at the corner of the mouth on both sides of the face.  Underside is creamy white.  Eyes are gold
• Active by day during the cooler months, nocturnal during the warmer months.  Take shelter in rodent burrows.  Aestivate during extreme heat.  Most active in rainy weather
• Primary defense from predators is a poison secreted from the parotoid glands, powerful enough to kill a large dog.  Some predators, such as raccoons, have developed the technique of flipping the toad over the attacking the belly, far away from the poison glands.
• Though dangerous (potentially fatally so), it has been noted that ingestion of the poison (in pop culture, usually referred to as "toad licking") can lead to hallucinations.  Possession of the toxin, Bufotenin, is outlawed in much of the US, as is possession of the live toads, especially if thought to be for the purpose of using them as a psychoactive agent