Spadefoot Toad in North American

Spadefoot toads are burrowing frogs that have large spade-like feet they use to dig tunnels under the sand, where they spend more of their lives in a dormant state that is similar to hibernation. But as soon as a rainstorm approaches, they spring into action the sound of thunder and the vibration of the raindrops hitting the ground are believed to be the cue that stirs the spadefoots into action.

They emerge from underground and travel towards large rain puddles. Here, males will attempt to attract the females with loud calls, competing with one another. At times, they are so desperate to reproduce that occasionally they will seize another male or a frog from a different species. Even when the male has found a female spadefoot, other males will pile on top to create a writhing heap of frogs.



The male will stimulate the female to lay up to two thousand eggs, which submerge and attach themselves to vegetation in the water. The male will then deposit his sperm on them and, within as little as fifteen hours, tiny tadpoles will emerge. To survive, the tadpole must develop into a frog before the desert sun swallows up the rainwater pools. This happens in only twelve to thirteen days, the fastest development rate of any frog or toad. The young frogs will then fill up with food and bury themselves under the sand to await the next downpour.

Spadefoot toads are rarely seen because of their unusual habits. They are usually found in Western North American deserts like the Mojave, Chihuaha, and Sonoran. Normally this would be a problem for an amphibian, but spadefoot toads are able to deal with the hot and dry weather as spadefoot toads spend most of their time underground.

The spadefoot toad is a burrowing species of toad and they use their large front feet to make tunnels in the sand. Spadefoot toads are able to spend weeks underground but will come to the surface at night time after heavy rain when the air is moist, so that they can feed.

There are two main types of spadefoot toad, those that live only in North America and those that live in Europe, Northern Africa and WesternAsia. The spadefoot toad is an amphibian and anurans. Anurans are frogs and toads.


Spadefoot toads are omnivorous animals and have a primarily vegetarian dietwhen they are young. As the spadefoot toad gets older, they begin to eat largeinvertebrates such as snails, grasshoppers and caterpillars.

The spadefoot toad tadpoles develop very quickly. They can also dig holes and bury themselves until the next desert rain, when they will spawn and turn into the larger, rounder adult toads.