The Amargosa toad (''Anaxyrus nelsoni'') is a species of
toad
Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands.
A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scient ...
in the family
Bufonidae {{Cat main, Toad
This category contains both species commonly called toads, and the true toads from the family Bufonidae.
Animals by common name
Frogs ...
. It was at one time considered to be a
subspecies of the
western toad.
It is threatened by
habitat loss
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
and is classified by the
IUCN as being "Critically endangered".
Etymology
The
specific name Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
''nelsoni'' honors
Edward William Nelson
Edward William Nelson (May 8, 1855 – May 19, 1934) was an American naturalist and ethnologist. A collector of specimens and field naturalist of repute, he became a member of several expeditions to survey the fauna and flora. He was part o ...
, an American naturalist and ethnologist.
Distribution and habitat
The Amargosa toad is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...
to the
Oasis Valley in the
Amargosa Desert
The Amargosa Desert is located in Nye County in western Nevada, United States, along the California–Nevada border, comprising the northeastern portion of the geographic Amargosa Valley, north of the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.
...
in
Nye County, Nevada
Nye County is a county in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,591. Its county seat is Tonopah. At , Nye is Nevada's largest county by area and the third-largest county in the contiguous United States, be ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
.
[ Its natural ]habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
is along a 10-mile (16 kilometre) stretch of the Amargosa River
The Amargosa River is an intermittent waterway, 185 miles (298 km) long, in southern Nevada and eastern California in the United States. It drains a high desert region, the Amargosa Valley in the Amargosa Desert northwest of Las Vegas, i ...
in the Oasis Valley between Springdale and Beatty, in tributary springs and in nearby isolated springs. The riverside growth consists of cottonwoods, sedge
The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus '' Carex'' ...
s and cattail
''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace, in American English as reed, cattail, or punks, in ...
s and breeding takes place in the springs where there is often little aquatic vegetation.
Status
The International Union for Conservation of Nature
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natur ...
has assessed the status of the Amargosa toad as being "critically endangered". Factors that adversely affect it include variable amounts of rainfall, the increased use of off-road vehicles, the trampling of grazing animals, dredging operations for flood control and commercial development. Another threat is the introduction of non-native species that prey
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the ...
on it including catfish
Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...
, crayfish
Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, ...
and bullfrogs. The population of the toads is believed to be in decline.Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA or "The Act"; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) is the primary law in the United States for protecting imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of e ...
.NPR: "All Hopped Up: Town Unites For Toad Revival"
NPR. Accessed 11.10.2010
References
External links
*
*
Nevada Fish & Wildlife Office: Amargosa Toad- ''website of the
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Nevada Office''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q25678281
Anaxyrus
Amphibians of the United States
Endemic fauna of Nevada
Amargosa Desert
Fauna of the Mojave Desert
Amphibians described in 1893
Taxa named by Leonhard Stejneger
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot