Compare two species

Sonoran Desert Toad vs. Woodhouse's Toad

Both live along the rivers, canals, stock tanks and towns of central and southern Arizona, and both come out on wet summer nights. A: Relatively smooth and leathery, only a few small warts in the Sonoran Desert Toad; rough and warty, the warts sitting in dark blotches in the Woodhouse's Toad. B: One or more big, raised glands on each hind leg in the Sonoran Desert Toad; no big glands on the legs, only warts in the Woodhouse's Toad. C: One or two white warts at the corner of the jaw in the Sonoran Desert Toad; no white wart at the corner of the jaw in the Woodhouse's Toad. D: No stripe down the back; plain olive to brown in the Sonoran Desert Toad; a whitish stripe down the middle of the back in the Woodhouse's Toad. E: Huge: 4.3 to 7.5 in (11-19 cm) in the Sonoran Desert Toad; smaller: up to 5 in (13 cm) in the Woodhouse's Toad. The Sonoran Desert Toad's skin poison is strong enough to kill a dog that mouths it; wash your hands after touching either.

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Sonoran Desert Toad

Incilius alvarius

Woodhouse's Toad

Anaxyrus woodhousii

Photographs via iNaturalist under Creative Commons licences; the photographers are credited on the sheet.

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