Official Status:

Life History:

Robust and stocky with dry, uniformly warty skin. No cranial crests. Large, flat oval paratoid glands. Eyes are closely set, pupils are horizontal. Dorsal stripe is very faint or absent. Sexes are colored differently. Males are pale yellowish green or olive above, with few or no dark blotches. Females and young are heavily blotched on a light background. Throat and belly is pale on both sexes. Moves by walking instead of hopping.

Inactive in cold temperatures and hot, dry weather. Primarily diurnal; frequents sunny open sites. Emerges from underground retreats soon after snow melt and is most active April-October (Stebbins 1985). Active above ground for only about 4 months each year. At Tioga Pass Meadow, emerges from hibernation in May or June (Kagarise Sherman and Morton 1993).

Distribution and Habitat:

Yosemite toads ( Bufo canorus ) are endemic to the Sierra Nevada, California, from Ebbetts Pass, Alpine County to the Spanish Mountain area, Fresno County (Karlstrom, 1962, 1973; Stebbins 1966; unpublished Sierra National Forest survey data, 1995, 2002). Sites occur from 1,950–3,444 m elevation, with the majority of sites between 2,590–3,048 m (Karlstrom, 1962). Jennings and Hayes (1994a) estimate that populations have disappeared from 50% of historically reported sites, although the overall range of the species may have only contracted in the far north and in western Fresno County. Disappearances have been concentrated at lower elevation sites on the western edge of the range, with greater persistence at higher elevation sites (Davidson et al., 2002).

Threats:

habitat loss, a fungus known as a chytrid which is easily spread through watersheds

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