NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Western Toad
Anaxyrus boreas (Baird & Girard, 1852)
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 western toad (Anaxyrus boreas) is a large toad species, between 5.6 and 13 cm (2.2 and 5.1 in) long, native to western North America. A. boreas is frequently encountered during the wet season on roads, or near water at other times. It can jump a considerable distance for a toad. Breeding occurs between March and July in mountainous areas, and as early as January in lower-elevation regions. The female lays up to 17,000 eggs stuck together in strings that adhere to vegetation and other objects along water edges.
Wikipedia contributors, Western toad; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:56:38.422109+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Anaxyrus boreas (Baird & Girard, 1852)
- Name authority
- (Baird & Girard, 1852)
- Common name
- Western 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 boreas (Baird & Girard, 1852)
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 |
| Southern ToadAnaxyrus terrestris (Bonnaterre, 1789) | 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.
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.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=773513 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:DK9W. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.