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Photo by Paul Thompson
Photo Courtesy of Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
Western toad
Anaxyrus boreas
Other common names: Boreal toad
NatureServe conservation status
Global (G-rank): G4
State (S-rank): S3
External links
Species range
(Known from areas of high elevation, mainly the Wasatch Mountains and central high plateaus, from Rich and Daggett counties in the northeast to Washington and Kane counties in the southwest; also a few high areas near the Nevada border in Box Elder County. One isolated population in Emery County. D.E. Dittmer, 2020)
Habitat
Populations are found in association with permanent water bodies in a variety of habitats, including riparian, mountain shrub, mixed conifer, and aspen-conifer assemblages. Breeding sites are in small pools, beaver ponds, reservoirs, and backwaters and side-channels of creeks and rivers. Adults may traverse miles of upland habitat during non-breeding periods (P. Thompson, UDWR, pers. comm.).
Food habits
Tanner (1931) presented data on stomach contents of this species in Utah: ants and beetles of several families were found in stomachs of most of the seven specimens examined; seven caterpillars were in one stomach, and a grasshopper was in another. Titus (1910) reported large numbers of weevil larvae and adults in stomachs of toads of this species found in cultivated fields in Utah.
Threats or limiting factors
(Habitat loss is a widely recognized contributing factor, and has undoubtedly played a role in some population losses, especially populations formerly occupying what are now urban areas. Chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) has been implicated in declines elsewhere, but does not appear to have contributed to the loss of populations in Utah (C. Bailey, UDWR, pers. comm.). Many of the population changes that have been detected remain unexplained. D.E. Dittmer, 2020)
