Kingdom Animalia Order Anura Genus Scaphiopus Higher classification Scaphiopus | Phylum Chordata Family Scaphiopodidae Scientific name Scaphiopus hurterii Rank Species | |
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Similar Frog, Scaphiopus, American spadefoot toad, Amphibians, Plains spadefoot toad | ||
Hurter's spadefoot toad or Hurter's spadefoot (Scaphiopus hurteri) is a species of American spadefoot toad (family Scaphiopodidae) found in the south central United States (Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma); its range might extend to the adjacent northern Mexico. It was once classified as a subspecies of the eastern spadefoot toad (Scaphiopus holbrookii), but it has been granted its own species status. The specific name hurterii is in honor of the Swiss-American naturalist and curator of the St. Louis Academy of Sciences, Julius Hurter.
Habitat
The species occurs in areas of sandy, gravelly, or soft, light soils in wooded or unwooded terrain and in sandy open woodland and savanna as well as in mesquite scrub. During periods inactivity it burrows underground. Breeding takes place in temporary pools formed by heavy rains.