Great Plains toad facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Great Plains toad |
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Bufo cognatus Say, 1822 |
The Great Plains toad, also known by its scientific name Anaxyrus cognatus, is a type of true toad. These toads are quite large and live in the central parts of North America.
Contents
Where Great Plains Toads Live
These amazing amphibians can be found in many places! They live across the Canadian Prairies, which include southern Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. You can also find them further south in northern Mexico, especially in the Sonoran Desert and on the Mexican Plateau.
What Great Plains Toads Look Like
The Great Plains toad has a cool look! They are usually grey, brown, and green with darker blotches on their skin. These toads can grow to be about 2 to 4.5 inches (5 to 11.4 centimeters) long.
They love to live in grasslands where the soil is loose. This makes it easy for them to dig burrows and hide underground.
Diet and Daily Life
Great Plains toads are insect eaters! Their main diet includes different kinds of cutworms. They also enjoy munching on other insects like butterflies and moths (when they are caterpillars), flies, bees, wasps, beetles, ants, and termites.
These toads are often most active at night. In very dry areas, they might only come out of their burrows for a few weeks when there's enough rain. But in places with lots of water and regular rain, they can be active all day long!
Reproduction and Life Cycle
Great Plains toads usually breed during the spring and summer. They often start breeding right after a big rainfall. Their mating call is very loud! It sounds like a harsh chirping noise that they repeat many times, very fast.
They lay their eggs in temporary water bodies. These can be rain puddles, flooded areas, or even ponds. They also use the edges of larger water sources like reservoirs. The eggs and young tadpoles develop in shallow water. It takes about 17 to 45 days for them to change from tadpoles into tiny toads.
Predators and Survival
Even though they are good at hiding, Great Plains toads have predators. One of their main predators is the plains garter snake (Thamnophis radix). Toads can actually sense these snakes using special chemical signals.
When they are not active, these toads dig underground to stay safe and cool.
Conservation Status
The Great Plains toad is found in many different areas, so it is not currently considered an endangered species. However, they can face challenges from things like cars on roads, farming activities, and cities growing bigger. They can also be affected by more droughts, which means less water for them.
