The Red-spotted Toad is characterized by dry skin, a round snout, an enlarged round gland behind each eye on
the neck, no bony crests between or behind the eyes, and a distinctive color. The head, limbs, and body of this toad are a uniform brown or gray with small warts which may or may not be red spotted. The belly is yellowish with small blackish spots. Males have a dark throat and are smaller than females.
Adults normally 38-64 mm (1½-2½ inches) in snout-vent length. The largest Kansas specimen is female (KU 337000) from Barber County with a snout-vent length of 62.5 mm (27⁄16 inches) collected by Matthew F. Jones, Nicole D. Dzenowski, and David S. McLeod on 27 May 2014. The maximum length throughout their range is 76 mm (3 inches) (Powell et al. 2016).
The occurrence of this species has been documented in western Barber County and extreme southeastern Comanche County, with an isolated population in northern Clark County. An adult (51mm snout-vent length) specimen from Morton County (KU 9100, 12 mi N Elkhart, ca Walsh's Ranch [= Wood Walsh Ranch]: 25 June 1927: Burt and Parker) was reported by Hill (1931) from the material also reported on by Taylor (1929). The Morton County specimen is supported by extant populations upstream in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, however, it is questionable because 1) it was not reported initially by Taylor (1929) and 2) has not been found in Morton County since. This specimen is in need of corroboration.
Miller (1983) and Russell (2023) studied the Red-spotted Toad in Barber County, and much of my information is based on their observations.
This species inhabits rocky areas of dry prairies and canyons in southwestern Kansas. Russell (2023) found them most commonly active in open areas (e.g. gypsum outcrops) and less likely in the surrounding grasslands. Like most toads, it is nocturnal. During the day, it hides beneath rocks where the soil is fairly moist. Knight et al. (1973) found adult specimens in canyons in Barber County. One was discovered beneath a limestone rock at the canyon's rim and another at the base of the canyon. They commented on the activity of this toad after heavy rainfall, a habit that Collins (1974) observed also in this species in the same county. Miller (1983) discovered two Red-spotted Toads climbing a canyon wall on 11 June at 1230 hours (air temperature was 80°F) and a single sub-adult emerging from a crack in the soil atop an east-facing ridge in Barber County at 1900 hours on the same date (72°F).
Little is known of the annual activity period of the Red-spotted Toad. All observations of these amphibians in Kansas have been made from May to September.The Red-spotted Toad is an opportunistic breeder. After spring or summer rains, this species congregates in small numbers (Miller, 1983) around canyon pools and streams to mate. Males begin calling and attract a female. The male mounts the female and secures his front limbs around her groin. The female deposits her eggs singly as the male fertilizes them. The eggs adhere to plants, other objects, and sometimes to each other to form a small, single layered mass. After hatching, the free swimming tadpoles metamorphose into adults.
Smith (1934) stated that breeding in this species occurred between late April and early May, but Blair et al. (1972) indicated that it breeds anytime after heavy rainfall during spring and summer. Knight et al. (1973) captured two adult Red-spotted Toads in a mating clasp on 3 June about fifty feet from standing water in Barber County. In the same county, Eric M. Rundquist (pers. comm., 1974; Collins, 1993) observed adults in a small Gypsum Hills canyon through which a stream was flowing in early June. The adults emerged from burrows about 45 minutes after sundown and sat along the canyon wall. Males chorused from 2030-2130 hours and then intermittently until 0300 hours the following morning. Single eggs were found scattered
randomly along the silt-mud stream bottom in 76.2 mm (3 inches) of water. Miller (1980) reported a chorus of 15- 20 adult male Red-spotted Toads calling at approximately 2200 hours on 25 May in Barber County. The toads were chorusing from a small pool 25.4-203.2 mm (1-8 inches) deep on a clear, windless night. He returned to the same area on 1 June and heard 7- 10 of these toads calling from open areas along the bank of a small stream with a maximum depth of 101.6 mm (4 inches). Miller (1983) recorded choruses of this amphibian from 29 May to 14 June at air temperatures of 51° to 72°F between 21 30 and 2345 hours.
Smith (1934) reported that this toad eats beetles, ants, and bees, with ants predominating. Little is known of its food preferences in Kansas.
The Red-spotted Toad was first reported in Kansas by Hill, (1931) based on the earliest existing specimen collected in 1927 (KU 9100).
The Morton County specimen (KU 9100) was collected in 1927 and all but one of the Clark County specimens were collected in 1936 and 1938 (KU 21079-94). A single specimen was collected by Jim Knight (FHSM 5250) below the dam at Clark County State Lake in 1971; however, that specimen cannot be located. The persistence of the Clark County population was verified by a specimen taken 12 May 2005 under a rock southwest of the state lake, and subsequent personal observations. The Clark County records probably represent a relictual population, as survey efforts to the south and east have produced no specimens in the intervening area through southeastern Comanche County. The Clark County population occurs in the Kiowa Shale/Cheyenne Sandstone formations there and it is interesting that they are absent from the same formation in Kiowa County.
The population that previously existed in Morton County was likely extirpated during the 1930s, however, they do persist in along the Cimarron River drainage in Oklahoma and may eventually make their way back into Kansas along that river.
Miller (1983, 1987) studied this species in western Barber County and contributed several new localities. Of particular importance in his study were his records of chorusing activity in Kansas.
The Barber and Comanche county populations occur over a vast area of relatively contiguous habitat and appear to be secure. In this area, its distribution largely coincides with the surface exposures of the Blaine Formation (Medicine Lodge Gypsum Member). Potential threats include agricultural runoff, gypsum mining, overgrazing, and the encroachment of red cedar.
The Red-spotted Toad was listed as a Kansas SINC species in 1987.
Based on a captive specimen, Snider and Bowler (1992) reported a maximum longevity for this toad of eleven years, four months, and eleven days.
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