Genus of true toads in the family Bufonidae.
Anaxyrus , containing the North American toads , is a genus of true toads in the family Bufonidae .[ 1] The genus is endemic to North and Central America , and contains many familiar North American toad species such as the American toad , Woodhouse's toad , and the western toad .
Most species in this genus were initially classified in Bufo , but were split due to their genetic divergence and geographic separation. Some authorities still consider Anaxyrus to be a subgenus within Bufo .[ 2] [ 3] However, other authorities have disputed this classification, as doing so would also require all morphologically distinct Old World toad species to also be placed in Bufo .[ 1]
Binomial name
Described by, year
Common name
Anaxyrus americanus ↔ Bufo americanus
Holbrook , 1836
American toad
Anaxyrus baxteri ↔ Bufo baxteri
Porter , 1968
Wyoming toad
Anaxyrus boreas ↔ Bufo boreas
Baird & Girard , 1852
western toad
Anaxyrus californicus ↔ Bufo californicus
Camp , 1915
arroyo toad
Anaxyrus canorus ↔ Bufo canorus
Camp, 1916
Yosemite toad
Anaxyrus cognatus ↔ Bufo cognatus
Say , 1823
Great Plains toad
Anaxyrus compactilis ↔ Bufo compactilis
Wiegmann , 1833
plateau toad , Texas toad
Anaxyrus debilis ↔ Bufo debilis
Girard, 1854
North American green toad
Anaxyrus exsul ↔ Bufo exsul
G. Myers , 1942
black toad
Anaxyrus fowleri ↔ Bufo fowleri
Hinckley , 1882
Fowler's toad
Anaxyrus hemiophrys ↔ Bufo hemiophrys
Cope , 1886
Canadian toad
Anaxyrus houstonensis ↔ Bufo houstonensis
Sanders , 1953
Houston toad
Anaxyrus kelloggi ↔ Bufo kelloggi
Taylor , 1938
little Mexican toad
Anaxyrus mexicanus ↔ Bufo mexicanus
Brocchi , 1879
southwestern toad
Anaxyrus microscaphus ↔ Bufo microscaphus
Cope, 1867
Arizona toad
Anaxyrus monfontanus ↔ Bufo monfontanus
Gordon, Simandle, Sandmeier & Tracy, 2020[ 3]
Hot Creek toad
Anaxyrus nelsoni ↔ Bufo nelsoni
Stejneger , 1893
Amargosa toad
Anaxyrus nevadensis ↔ Bufo nevadensis
Gordon, Simandle, Sandmeier & Tracy, 2020[ 3]
Railroad Valley toad
Anaxyrus punctatus ↔ Bufo punctatus
Baird & Girard, 1852
red-spotted toad , Baird's spotted toad
Anaxyrus quercicus ↔ Bufo quercicus
Holbrook, 1840
oak toad
Anaxyrus retiformis ↔ Bufo retiformis
Sanders and H.M. Smith , 1951
Sonoran green toad
Anaxyrus speciosus ↔ Bufo speciosus
Girard, 1854
Texas toad
Anaxyrus terrestris ↔ Bufo terrestris
Bonnaterre , 1789
southern toad
Anaxyrus williamsi ↔ Bufo williamsi
Gordon , Simandle , and Tracy , 2017
Dixie Valley toad
Anaxyrus woodhousii ↔ Bufo woodhousii
Girard, 1854
Woodhouse's toad
The following fossil taxa are also known, all of which were also previously placed in Bufo :[ 4]
†Anaxyrus defensor (Meylan, 2005) (Pliocene/early Pleistocene of Florida )
†Anaxyrus hibbardi (Taylor, 1937) (Late Miocene of Kansas )
†Anaxyrus pliocompactilis (Wilson, 1968) (Late Miocene of Kansas, possibly synonymous with Anaxyrus compactilis or Anaxyrus speciosus )
†Anaxyrus repentinus (Tihen, 1962) (Mid-Late Pleistocene (Rancholabrean ) of Kansas, possibly synonymous with Anaxyrus woodhousii or Anaxyrus cognatus )
†Anaxyrus rexroadensis (Tihen, 1962) (Pliocene/early Pleistocene of Kansas)
†Anaxyrus spongifrons (Tihen, 1962) (Late Miocene of Kansas)
†Anaxyrus suspectus (Tihen, 1962) (Pliocene/early Pleistocene (Blancan ) of Kansas)
†Anaxyrus tiheni (Auffenberg , 1957) (Late Miocene of Florida)
†Anaxyrus valentinensis (Estes & Tihen, 1964) (Middle Miocene (Barstovian ) of Nebraska )
Frost DR , Grant T [in French] , Faivovich JN [in French] , Bain RH [in French] , Haas A [in German] , Haddad CLFB [in French] , De Sá RO, Channing A [in French] , Wilkinson M [in French] , Donnellan SC , Raxworthy CJ [in French] , Campbell JA , Blotto BL, Moler P, Drewes RC, Nussbaum RA [in French] , Lynch JD [in French] , Green DM, Wheeler WC (2006). "The Amphibian Tree of Life" . Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History . 297 : 1–291. doi :10.1206/0003-0090(2006)297[0001:TATOL]2.0.CO;2 . hdl :2246/5781 .
Pauly GB, Hillis DM , Cannatella DC [in French] (November 2004). "The history of a Nearctic colonization: Molecular phylogenetics and biogeography of the Nearctic toads (Bufo )" . Evolution . 58 (11): 2517–2535. doi :10.1111/j.0014-3820.2004.tb00881.x . PMID 15612295 .
Pauly, Gregory B.; Hillis, David M.; Cannatella, David C. (June 2009). "Taxonomic freedom and the role of official lists of species names" . Herpetologica . 65 (2): 115–128. doi :10.1655/08-031R1.1 .
Tschudi JJ (1845). "Reptilium conspectus quae in Republica Peruana reperiuntur et pleraque observata vel collecta sunt in itinere ". Archiv für Naturgeschichte 11 (1): 150–170. (Anaxyrus , new genus, p. 170). (in Latin)