Most Massachusetts residents have probably never heard of the spadefoot toad — so named for its oddly shaped feet. Perhaps that’s not surprising, since it’s considered the Bay State’s rarest frog ...

T he potholes and intermittent streams on the Colorado Plateau hold a variety of surprises. Tadpole shrimp and fairy shrimp appear the day after it rains, and pollywogs appear in some pools. Pollywogs ...

Time for more spadefoot toads (that is, members of the anuran clade Pelobatoidea or Anomocoela). This time, we're going to look at the two North American spadefoot toad genera (Spea and Scaphiopus).

RICHMOND — For years, the only known breeding colony of eastern spadefoot toads in Rhode Island was in the Scudder Preserve, a wooded expanse tucked away in rural Richmond. So on the rainy morning of ...

The desert conditions of the Southwestern United States can make life tough for water-dwelling creatures. But some of the ecosystem's animals have learned to adapt — and get creative with their love ...

The future of a proposed multiuse development in the Santa Clarita Valley could rest partly on its relationship with some short-legged, bug-eyed amphibians. Toads, to be precise. Construction of ...

PROVIDENCE — The eastern spadefoot toad is a state-endangered animal in Rhode Island that is known to populate only a handful of sites around the state. But a newly-employed detection technique is ...

Ian Ives wants to get close enough to a spadefoot toad to see the glint in its eye. Who wouldn't want to lock eyes with a comely spadefoot toad, no better way to find a prince or a princess. That's ...

As a general rule of thumb, most of the world’s wild animals keep their instinctual mating practices within their own species bubble. But if you’re a female plains spadefoot toad, then you just might ...

On September 24, 2025, the Center for Biological Diversity submitted a petition (the Petition) to the California Fish and Game Commission (the Commission) to list the western spadefoot toad (Spea ...

Rediscovering the Syrian spadefoot toad is a sign of optimism and renewal of hope in a troubled part of the world. The article, though, is a use of science to spread enmity. A recent article by Ruth ...