NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Sonoran Desert Toad
Incilius alvarius (Girard in Baird, 1859)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Colorado River Toad
Wildfeuer · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Colorado River toad (Incilius alvarius), (previously Bufo alvarius) also known as the Sonoran Desert toad, is a toad species found in northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It is well known for its ability to exude toxins that have psychoactive properties from glands within its skin.
The toad's scientific name was formerly Bufo alvarius, the name by which the toad is generally still known. In the early 2000s, the increasingly important role of molecular genetic techniques in taxonomy and their ability to examine phylogenetic relationships allowed scientists to discover numerous distinct genera within the old Bufo group.
The Colorado River toad's name was subsequently changed to Incilius alvarius.
Wikipedia contributors, Colorado River toad; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:30:33.260279+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Incilius alvarius (Girard in Baird, 1859)
- Name authority
- (Girard in Baird, 1859)
- Common name
- Sonoran Desert Toad
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Amphibia
- Order
- Anura
- Family
- Bufonidae
- Genus
- Incilius
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAmphibia
- orderAnura
- familyBufonidae Gray, 1825
- genusIncilius Cope, 1863
- speciesIncilius alvarius (Girard in Baird, 1859)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Incilius. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Incilius aucoinae (O'Neill & Mendelson, 2004) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Incilius bocourti (Brocchi, 1877) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Incilius canaliferus (Cope, 1877) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Incilius coniferus (Cope, 1862) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Incilius cristatus (Wiegmann, 1833) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Incilius epioticus (Cope, 1875) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Incilius gemmifer (Taylor, 1940) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Incilius karenlipsae Mendelson & Mulcahy, 2010 | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Incilius leucomyos (McCranie & Wilson, 2000) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Incilius luetkenii (Boulenger, 1891) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Incilius macrocristatus (Firschein & Smith, 1957) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Incilius mazatlanensis (Taylor, 1940) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Cranopsis alvaria (Girard in Baird, 1859) (Girard in Baird, 1859) | synonym |
| Ollotis alvaria (Girard in Baird, 1859) (Girard in Baird, 1859) | synonym |
| Phrynoidis alvarius (Girard in Baird, 1859) (Girard in Baird, 1859) | synonym |
| Bufo alvarius Girard in Baird, 1859 Girard in Baird, 1859 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
North America
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Baird, 1859 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3PLBX. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.