NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Southern Toad
Anaxyrus terrestris (Bonnaterre, 1789)
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 southern toad (Anaxyrus terrestris) is a true toad native to the southeastern United States, from eastern Louisiana and southeastern Virginia south to Florida, where it is the largest toad found in that range. It often lives in areas with sandy soils. It is nocturnal and spends the day in a burrow. Its coloring is usually brown but can be red, gray, or black. It is approximately 8 cm (3 inches) long.
Wikipedia contributors, Southern toad; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T03:32:23.845512+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Anaxyrus terrestris (Bonnaterre, 1789)
- Name authority
- (Bonnaterre, 1789)
- Common name
- Southern 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 terrestris (Bonnaterre, 1789)
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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
|---|---|
| Incilius lentiginosus (Shaw, 1802) (Shaw, 1802) | synonym |
| Rana lentiginosa Shaw, 1802 Shaw, 1802 | synonym |
| Telmatobius lentiginosus (Shaw, 1802) (Shaw, 1802) | synonym |
| Bufo lentiginosus lentiginosus (Shaw, 1802) (Shaw, 1802) | synonym |
| Bufo terrestris (Bonnaterre, 1789) (Bonnaterre, 1789) | synonym |
| Chilophryne lentiginosa (Shaw, 1802) (Shaw, 1802) | synonym |
| Buffo clamosus Lacépède, 1788 Lacépède, 1788 | synonym |
| Bufo erythronotus Holbrook, 1838 Holbrook, 1838 | synonym |
| Bufo lentiginosus pachycephalus Cope, 1889 Cope, 1889 | synonym |
| Rana terrestris Bonnaterre, 1789 Bonnaterre, 1789 | synonym |
| Bufo clamosus Schneider, 1799 Schneider, 1799 | synonym |
| Bufo lentiginosus (Shaw, 1802) (Shaw, 1802) | 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=773531 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:66M7G. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.