Spea

Western spadefoot toad
Western Spadefoot Toad (Spea hammondii)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Suborder: Mesobatrachia
Family: Scaphiopodidae
Genus: Spea
Cope, 1866

Spea is a genus of North American amphibian commonly referred to as the western spadefoot toads. They differ greatly from true toads (those of the family Bufonidae) by having eyes with vertical pupils, no parotoid glands, and relatively smooth skin. Their most distinctive feature is a spade-like projection on their hind feet, from which their common name is derived. This projection enables spadefoot toads to dig in loose soils with ease. Its name is from the Ancient Greek speos (σπέος, ‘cave, cavern’)[1]

Species

Spea species were once classified with their European cousins in the family Pelobatidae, but have since been reclassified to their own family, Scaphiopodidae with other North American species. There are four species in the genus Spea:

Related species

Genus Scaphiopus, southern spadefoot toads

References

  1. Dodd, C. Kenneth (2013). Frogs of the United States and Canada 1. The Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-4214-0633-6.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, December 08, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.