NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
American Toad
Anaxyrus americanus (Holbrook, 1836)
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
The American toad (Anaxyrus americanus) is a common species of toad found throughout the eastern half of Canada and the United States. It is divided into three subspecies: the eastern American toad (A. a. americanus), the dwarf American toad (A. a. charlesmithi) and the rare Hudson Bay toad (A. a. copei). Taxonomic treatments in 2006 placed this species in the genus Anaxyrus instead of Bufo.
Wikipedia contributors, American toad; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T03:32:16.309264+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Anaxyrus americanus (Holbrook, 1836)
- Name authority
- (Holbrook, 1836)
- Common name
- American Toad
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Amphibia
- Order
- Anura
- Family
- Bufonidae
- Genus
- Anaxyrus
- 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
- genusAnaxyrus Tschudi, 1845
- speciesAnaxyrus americanus (Holbrook, 1836)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Anaxyrus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Anaxyrus kelloggi (Taylor, 1938) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Amargosa ToadAnaxyrus nelsoni (Stejneger, 1893) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Great Plains ToadAnaxyrus cognatus (Say in James, 1823) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Anaxyrus compactilis (Wiegmann, 1833) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Chihuahuan Green ToadAnaxyrus debilis (Girard, 1854) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Anaxyrus williamsi (Gordon, Simandle & Tracy, 2017) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black ToadAnaxyrus exsul (Myers, 1942) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Arizona ToadAnaxyrus microscaphus (Cope, 1867) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Houston ToadAnaxyrus houstonensis (Sanders, 1953) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sonoran Green ToadAnaxyrus retiformis (Sanders & Smith, 1951) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Southern ToadAnaxyrus terrestris (Bonnaterre, 1789) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Red-spotted ToadAnaxyrus punctatus (Baird & Girard, 1852) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
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.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=773511 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
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:66LTT. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.