Morphology and vocalization comparison of the Houston Toad and the Dwarf American Toad: implications for their historic range.

ABSTRACT: Documenting changes in the distribution and abundance of a given taxon requires historical data. In the absence of long-term monitoring data collected throughout the range of a taxon, conservation biologists often rely on preserved museum specimens to determine the past or present, putative geographic distribution. Distributional data for the Houston Toad (Anaxyrus houstonensis) has consistently been confounded by similarities with a sympatric congener, the Dwarf American Toad (A. americanus charlesmithi), both in monitoring data derived from chorusing surveys, and in historical data via museum specimens. In this case, misidentification can have unintended impacts on conservation efforts, where the Houston Toad is federally endangered, and the Dwarf American Toad is of least

SUBMITTER: MacLaren AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11238721 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature