By Brenda Beaudry
Geographic Range
In the lowlands from Texas to Yucatan and Honduras, west coast from the Rio Balsas, Mexico, to Costa Rica. Barely enters the United States.
Biogeographic Regions:
nearctic 
(native ); neotropical (native ).
Habitat
Terrestrial and nocturnal. Remain in fairly small areas.
Terrestrial Biomes:
forest ; scrub forest .
Physical Description
Identification: 2 to 2 3/4 inches (record, 3 1/2 in.). The rotund body and broad reddish/orange middorsal stripe are sufficient for identifying this toad. Horny, shovel-like appendages on feet
Reproduction
Eggs are laid in water. Has its own mating call. Mate more than once and during any month. Breed in water, but may migrate one mile to a more suitable breeding pond. Eggs are laid in two jelly tubes. Tadpoles hatch in a few days and transform into adults in one to three months.
Behavior
Voice: a loud, low-pitched wh-o-o-o-a, much like a farmer commanding his mule to stop. Remain in burrows during winter and drought. When this amphibian is calling or alarmed, the body is so inflated with air that it resembles a miniature, somewhat flattened balloon with a small, triangular snout protruding from one side. Specimens are virtually never seen until heavy rains stimulate them to leave their burrows to form breeding choruses.
Food Habits
Eats insects, especially termites (which it licks up with its tongue), and other invertebrates.
Conservation Status
It looks somewhat like a narrow-mouthed toad of giant size. This species is the only living representative of its family, the Rhinophrynidae.
Contributors
Brenda Beaudry (author), University of Michigan.
