''Scaphiopus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of North American amphibian commonly referred to as the North American spadefoots, southern spadefoots, or eastern spadefoot toads. They differ greatly from true

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 ...

s (those of 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 ...

) by having

eye Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...

s with vertical

pupil The pupil is a black hole located in the center of the iris of the eye that allows light to strike the retina.Cassin, B. and Solomon, S. (1990) ''Dictionary of Eye Terminology''. Gainesville, Florida: Triad Publishing Company. It appears black ...

s, no

parotoid gland The parotoid gland (alternatively, paratoid gland) is an external skin gland on the back, neck, and shoulder of toads and some frogs and salamanders. It can secrete a number of milky alkaloid substances (depending on the species) known collective ...

, and relatively smooth

skin Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other cuticle, animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have diffe ...

. Their most distinctive feature is a spade-like projection on their hind feet, from which their common name is derived. This projection enables spadefoot toads to dig in loose soils with ease. Its scientific name means ‘spade-foot’ as well, from the Ancient Greek ' (, ‘spade, shovel’) and ' (, ‘foot, leg’).

Species

''Scaphiopus'' species were once classified with their

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

an cousins in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Pelobatidae The European spadefoot toads are a family of frogs, the Pelobatidae, with only one extant genus ''Pelobates'', containing six species. They are native to Europe, the Mediterranean, northwestern Africa, and western Asia. Description The Europe ...

, but have since been reclassified to their own family, Scaphiopodidae with other North American species. There are three

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

in the genus ''Scaphiopus'': *Couch's spadefoot, ''

Scaphiopus couchii Couch's spadefoot toad or Couch's spadefoot (''Scaphiopus couchii)'' is a species of American spadefoot toad, North American spadefoot toad (Family (biology), family Scaphiopodidae). The Specific name (zoology), specific epithet ''couchii'' is ...

Baird Baird may refer to: Places United States * Baird, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Baird, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Baird, Texas, a city * Baird, Washington, a community * Baird Mountains, Alaska * Baird Inlet, Alaska ...

, 1854 *Eastern spadefoot, ''

Scaphiopus holbrookii ''Scaphiopus holbrookii'', commonly known as the eastern spadefoot, is a species of American spadefoot toad (family Scaphiopodidae) endemic to North America. Geographic range It is found in the southeastern United States, except for mountainous ...

'' (

Harlan Harlan is a given name and a surname which may refer to: Surname *Bob Harlan (born 1936 Robert E. Harlan), American football executive * Bruce Harlan (1926–1959), American Olympic diver * Byron B. Harlan (1886–1949), American politician * Byro ...

, 1835) *Hurter's spadefoot, '' Scaphiopus hurterii'' , 1910

Geographic range

Spadefoot toads are found throughout the

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 ...

and into northern

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

. They tend to prefer dry, grassland areas with loose, sandy soils that flood in the

rainy season The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Rainy Season may also refer to: * ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King * "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni * '' ...

Description

''Scaphiopus'' are generally colored appropriately with

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

s and

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model use ...

s to

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

themselves in their native habitat. At adult size they are usually not much larger than 8 cm.

Behaviour, diet, and reproduction

Spadefoot toads are

nocturnal Nocturnality is an ethology, animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have ...

and are rarely seen when it hasn't rained recently. They spend most of the time during the

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The ...

buried in the ground in

aestivation Aestivation ( la, aestas (summer); also spelled estivation in American English) is a state of animal dormancy, similar to hibernation, although taking place in the summer rather than the winter. Aestivation is characterized by inactivity and ...

. When it rains, they emerge to feed on

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s and to breed in

vernal pool Vernal pools, also called vernal ponds or ephemeral pools, are seasonal pools of water that provide habitat for distinctive plants and animals. They are considered to be a distinctive type of wetland usually devoid of fish, and thus allow the safe ...

s. They have one of the fastest reproductive cycles of any amphibian species. Once laid,

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

s hatch in a matter of a day or two. The

tadpole A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found ...

s are capable of developing to froglets within a couple of weeks. This feature is primarily due to fact that most of their breeding areas dry quickly once the rainy season is over.

Related species

Genus ''

Spea ''Spea'' is a genus of North American amphibian commonly referred to as the western spadefoot toads. They differ greatly from true toads (those of the family Bufonidae) by having eyes with vertical pupils, no parotoid glands, and relatively smo ...

'', western spadefoot toads *Plains spadefoot, '' Spea bombifrons'' (

Cope The cope (known in Latin as ''pluviale'' 'rain coat' or ''cappa'' 'cape') is a liturgical vestment, more precisely a long mantle or cloak, open in front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colours, litu ...

, 1863) *Western spadefoot ''

Spea hammondii ''Spea hammondii'', also known as the western spadefoot, western spadefoot toad, Hammond's spadefoot, or Hammond's spadefoot toad, is a species of amphibian in the family Scaphiopodidae. It is found in western California (USA) and northwester ...

'' (

, 1859) *Great Basin spadefoot, '' Spea intermontana'' (

, 1883) *Mexican spadefoot, '' Spea multiplicata'' (

, 1863)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2317066 Amphibian genera Taxa named by John Edwards Holbrook