NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Black Toad
Anaxyrus exsul (Myers, 1942)
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.
Anaxyrus exsul ; Deep Springs, Inyo County, California
Scott Trageser · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 320 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The black toad (Anaxyrus exsul), also known as the Inyo toad or Deep Springs toad, is a true toad that lives only in scattered oases in the Deep Springs Valley of Inyo County, California. In fact, its original scientific name, Bufo exsul, means "exiled toad", which refers to its species' isolation in a tiny spot in the high desert wilderness of the Californian Great Basin.
Wikipedia contributors, Black toad; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:07:26.630735+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Anaxyrus exsul (Myers, 1942)
- Name authority
- (Myers, 1942)
- Common name
- Black 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 exsul (Myers, 1942)
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 |
|---|---|---|
| American ToadAnaxyrus americanus (Holbrook, 1836) | BufonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| 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 |
| 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.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Bufo boreas exsul Myers, 1942 Myers, 1942 | synonym |
| Bufo exsul Myers, 1942 Myers, 1942 | synonym |
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=773519 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:66M6Y. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.