Herpetofauna - One Life's List

Couch's Spadefoot Toad
Scaphiopus couchii

Val Verde Co., Texas. May 22, 1997
 
Spadefoot toads aren't around much.  They spend a great deal of their time buried in the soil, waiting for the rains that must eventually come.  When it does rain, the Spadefoots emerge and breed frantically in the temporary pools of water.  They feed and remain active while the water remains, but then return to their subterranean existence.  Spadefoot tadpoles, meanwhile, rapidly develop into frogs in a matter of days; indeed, they have the shortest development cycle of any amphibian.

We were lucky to find a large number of couchii on the roads, the day after a heavy rain in west Texas.

 
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