Wonders of Wildlife: Fowler's Toad

Fowler’s Toad

Scientific Name: Anaxyrus fowleri

Found in Alabama: Common statewide

Diet: Herbivore (eats plants) as tadpoles
Carnivore (eats animals) as adults

Fowler’s Toad in Habitat
Wikimedia – John J. Mosesso, NBII

Learn More About...

Classification

IDENTIFICATION

Adaptations

Life Cycle

Habitat Needs

Ecological Role

CLASSIFICATION

Scientists use basic traits to
group animals into different taxonomic
classes.

For a taxonomic classification chart comparing key traits of common backyard wildlife,
CLICK HERE!

What type of animal am I?

I am a vertebrate (an animal with a spine or backbone).
I am cold-blooded, so I cannot control my body temperature.
I do not have scales, feathers, or fur, so I have smooth skin.
When I am a larva (tadpole), I breathe using gills, and when I am an adult frog, I breathe using lungs.
I have 4 legs.

The Fowler’s Toad is an AMPHIBIAN!

IDENTIFICATION TIPS

ADULT FOWLER’S TOAD

Body size ranges from 2-4 inches in length
Brown, gray, or olive green in color with darker spots on the back and a light line running down the back
Have warty looking skin with at least three warts in each dark spot
Males are smaller than females and have a darker colored throat than females

Fowler’s Toad
Wikimedia – Judy Gallagher

EGGS

Jelly-like and arranged in strings

American Toad Egg Strand
(closely related species)
Wikimedia – Ryan Hodnett

TADPOLES (Larvae)

up to 2.5 inches in length

Fowler’s Toad Tadpoles
Amphibian Foundation

FROGLETS

Range from size of tadpole to size of adult
(2-4in)

American Toad Toadlet
(closely related species)
Dreamstime

PHYSICAL AND BEHAVIORAL ADAPTATIONS

PHYSICAL ADAPTATIONS

Fowler’s toads avoid predators using camouflage:

A Fowler’s toads mottled gray and brown coloration allow it to easily blend into its surroundings.
This camouflage (ability to blend in to the surrounding environment) helps it avoid predators (animals that eat them) and other threats.

Fowler’s toads defend themselves using a toxin:

Fowler’s toads have two bean-shaped bumps on the back of the neck called paratoid glands.
If approached by a threat, they use these glands to secrete a white fluid called bufotoxin.
This toxin causes nausea and burning of the mouth for the animals that bite them.

Fowler’s toads have tongues that help them capture prey:

The tongue of a Fowler’s toad is long and is attached at the front of the mouth, allowing it to launch as far as possible to capture prey (animals they eat).
Frog and toad tongues are made of extremely soft tissues, giving them the ability to hold on to the prey.
Their tongues are not “sticky” like a piece of tape. Instead, their saliva is able to convert back and forth between a liquid watery texture and a thick, sticky texture.
When a toad is at rest, the saliva is watery and not sticky. As a frog sticks out its tongue to capture prey (animal that it eats), the liquid saliva that surrounds the animal becomes thicker and stickier, trapping the animal.
Once the animal is inside the toad’s mouth, the frog uses its eyes to push against the food item to help release it from the tongue, allowing the frog to swallow its food.

BEHAVIORAL ADAPTATIONS

Fowler’s toads are nocturnal:

They are active during the night (nocturnal).

Fowler’s toads communicate with one another:

During the breeding season, male Fowler’s toads gather around shallow sources of water.
Males make a high-pitched sheep-like cry that the females recognize.
The males have a vocal pouch that allows the sound to travel in the direction that he is facing.

Fowler’s Toad Calling
Flickr – Northeast Barrier & Coastal Network

Fowler’s toads burow to help control body temperature:

The Fowler’s toad is cold-blooded and does not produce its own body heat like we do.
It relies on the surrounding environment to help regulate its body temperature.
During warmer dry days, they burrow in sandy substrate as a way to stay cool and moist.
During the colder months, they burrow and enter a state of hibernation (becoming dormant as if it is in a deep sleep).
During hibernation, its breathing and hearbeat slow down like your breathing and heartbeat slows down while you are asleep.

LIFE CYCLE

Frog Life Cycle
Wikimedia – Derek Ramsey

Metamorphosis is the process of physical change that some animals go through as they transform from a larvae into an adult.

Four Life Cycle Stages of the American Bullfrog

Stage 1: Egg

Females lay an average of 7,000 small, soft-shelled eggs each breeding season.
Eggs are laid in standing water attached to aquatic (water) plants and form jelly-like strings.

Stage 2: Tadpole

Baby toads that hatch from the eggs are called tadpoles.
Once the larvae (tadpoles) emerge from the eggs, they are independent.
Tadpoles live in an aquatic (water) habitat.
Tadpoles do not have legs.
They do not have lungs to breathe like we do. They have gills like fish for breathing.

Stage 3: Toadlets

As a tadpole undergoes metamorphosis (physical change) from tadpole to adult, it grows hind legs and front legs as the tail begins to shorten.
The gills will reduce as the lungs begin to enlarge.
During this transition, the Fowler’s toad goes through the toadlet stage where they begin to resemble the adult but have not fully developed all of the adult features.

Stage 4: Adult

Adult Fowler’s toads have fully formed legs and lungs and are able to live on land.

Lifespan

Fowler’s toads have an average life span of 5 years.

Fowler’s Toad Tadpoles
Amphibian Foundation

American Toadlet
(closely related species)
Dreamstime

Fowler’s Toad
Flickr – John P Clare

HABITAT NEEDS

Natural Habitat Needs	Adults	Young
Food	Carnivores (eat animals). Feed on ants, beetles, flies and their larva (young), and other invertebrates (animals without a backbone) such as snails.	Herbivores (eat plants). Feed on plants and algae in the water as well as bacteria found on underwater rocks.
Water	Water is essential for keeping their bodies moist and hydrated. Preferable water sources include ponds, creeks, marshes, ditches, and flooded fields.	Tadpoles live in bodies of standing freshwater such as ponds, ditches, marshes, slow moving creeks, and flooded fields.
Shelter	Live in and around aquatic (water) habitats. They prefer open habitats such as woodlands, meadows, and beaches but will also live in woodlands. They will burrow into the sand or other loose substrate.	Tadpoles hide among the substrate along the bottom surfaces of the shallow water.
Places to Raise Young	Eggs are deposited in permanent sources of standing freshwater like ponds and lakes. They prefer to lay eggs in sources of freshwater that have plants. Tadpoles are independent from parents once they hatch.

If you want to offer resources in your backyard habitat for this species, consider the suggestions below.

Backyard Habitat Needs	Adults	Young
Food	Provide a shallow pond that will attract insects that lay their eggs in water like dragonflies. Provide native grasses, wildflowers and shrubs that support insects and other invertebrates (animals that do not have a backbone). Do not spray pesticides that might harm insect populations. See AWF’s Frog Habitat Project Plan for a list of materials & plant suggestions.	Provide a water source such as a shallow pond that is able to support algae and aquatic vegetation (plants). Do not remove rocks, logs, or vegetation from standing sources of freshwater such as ponds or bogs.
Water	Add a source of still freshwater such as a boggy area or shallow pond.
Shelter	Leave some grasses un-mowed, provide wildflowers and understory vegetation (plants). Create a bog with a sandy substrate where they can burrow.	Do not remove rocks or aquatic vegetation (plants) from sources of freshwater.
Places to Raise Young	If a standing source of freshwater is not located nearby, create a bog with standing water where eggs can be deposited.

ECOLOGICAL ROLE

Animals play an important ecological role in the health of habitats and ecosystems.

Food Source:

Fowler’s toads serve as a food source for Eastern hog-nosed snakes, birds such as shrikes, and small mammals.

Insect Population Control:

Fowler’s toads play an important role in controlling the populations of the invertebrate species on which they feed.

Indicator Species:

The thin skin on adult Fowler’s toads and other amphibians makes them vulnerable to absorbing toxic materials and pollutants present in the environment.
A decrease in population size might indicate an increase in harmful chemicals in an ecosystem.

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