Couch's Spadefoot Toad (Scaphiopus couchii) is a species of North American spadefoot toad. The epithet couchii is in honor of American naturalist Darius Nash Couch, who collected the first specimen while on a personal expedition to northern Mexico to collect plant, mineral and animal specimens for the Smithsonian Institution.
Couch's Spadefoot Toad is native to the southwestern United States, northern Mexico, and the Baja peninsula. They can be f...
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Couch's Spadefoot Toad (Scaphiopus couchii) is a species of North American spadefoot toad. The epithet couchii is in honor of American naturalist Darius Nash Couch, who collected the first specimen while on a personal expedition to northern Mexico to collect plant, mineral and animal specimens for the Smithsonian Institution.
Couch's Spadefoot Toad is native to the southwestern United States, northern Mexico, and the Baja peninsula. They can be found throughout the Sonoran Desert, which includes parts of southern Arizona and California.
Unlike other toads which have horizontal pupils, spadefoot toads have vertical pupils. On the underside of the hind foot, there is a hard, dark "spade" that gives spadefoot toads their name. These creatures can get to be 3.5" in length. These "spades" are used by the toads to burrow into the ground to prevent water loss and hide from predators. There are two spadefoot species in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and California. Couch's Spadefoot toad ...
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