Home/Species/ Hurter's Spadefoot

Scaphiopus hurterii

Strecker, 1910

Hurter's Spadefoot

G5Secure Found in 2 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

Least concernIUCN

MediumThreat Impact

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.103646

Element CodeAAABF01050

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVertebrate Animal

IUCNLeast concern

Endemicendemic to a single nation

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumCraniata

ClassAmphibia

OrderAnura

FamilyScaphiopodidae

GenusScaphiopus

Synonyms

Scaphiopus holbrookii hurteriiStrecker, 1910

Other Common Names

Hurter?s Spadefoot (EN)

Concept Reference

Collins, J. T. 1990. Standard common and current scientific names for North American amphibians and reptiles. 3rd ed. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. Herpetological Circular No. 19. 41 pp.

Taxonomic Comments

Scaphiopus hurterii formerly was regarded as a subspecies of S. holbrookii.

Garcia-Paris et al. (2003) used mtDNA to examine the phylogentic relationships of Pelobatoidea and found that the family Pelobatidae, as previously defined, is not monophyletic (Pelobates is sister to Megophryidae, not to Spea/Scaphiopus). They split the Pelobatidae into two families: Eurasian spadefoot toads (Pelobates), which retain the name Pelobatidae, and North American spadefoot toads (Scaphiopus, Spea), which make up the revived family Scaphiopodidae.

Conservation Status

Review Date2004-04-05

Change Date2004-04-05

Edition Date2011-05-08

Edition AuthorsHammerson, G.

Threat ImpactMedium

Range Extent200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)

Number of Occurrences81 - 300

Rank Reasons

Moderate size range in south-central United States; locally common; likely has declined in area of occupancy and abundance over the long term, but not now significantly threatened; subjective assessments rate this species as secure.

Range Extent Comments

Range encompasses eastern Oklahoma, Arkansas, eastern Texas, and northwestern Louisiana (Conant and Collins 1991).

Occurrences Comments

Represented by many and/or large occurrences throughout much of the range. Probably there are many undiscovered occurrences; evades detection via erratic nocturnal activity.

Threat Impact Comments

Subject to localized extirpation as a result of urbanization, intensive agricultural development, and other severe habitat alterations. Pesticide use in conjunction with pest management is a potential threat. Overall, not very threatened. Rated as secure in Texas (A. Price, pers. comm., 2004), which encompasses the majority of the range.

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Areas of sandy, gravelly, or soft, light soils in wooded or unwooded terrain; sandy open woodland and savanna, mesquite scrub (Bartlett and Bartlett 1999). Burrows underground when inactive. Eggs and larvae develop in temporary pools formed by heavy rains.

Reproduction

Lays clutch of up to about 2500 eggs (in several batches) after heavy spring or summer rains. Eggs hatch in 2 days to 2 weeks. Aquatic larvae metamorphose into terrestrial form in 2-8 weeks.

Terrestrial Habitats

Woodland - HardwoodWoodland - MixedShrubland/chaparralSavannaGrassland/herbaceous

Palustrine Habitats

TEMPORARY POOLRiparian

Other Nations (1)

United StatesN5

Province	Rank	Native
Arkansas	S2	Yes
Oklahoma	S3	Yes
Texas	S5	Yes
Louisiana	S2	Yes

Threat Assessments

Threat	Scope	Severity	Timing
1 - Residential & commercial development	—	—	High (continuing)
1.1 - Housing & urban areas	—	—	High (continuing)
2 - Agriculture & aquaculture	—	—	High (continuing)
2.1 - Annual & perennial non-timber crops	—	—	High (continuing)
9 - Pollution	—	—	High (continuing)
9.3 - Agricultural & forestry effluents	—	—	High (continuing)

Roadless Areas (2)

Arkansas (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Clifty Canyon	Ozark-St. Francis National Forest	1,963

Louisiana (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Saline Bayou W & S River Corridor	Kisatchie National Forest	5,355

References (14)

Bartlett, R. D., and P. P. Bartlett. 1999a. A field guide to Texas reptiles & amphibians. Gulf Publishing Company, Houston, Texas. xviii + 331 pp.
Bartlett, R. D., and P. P. Bartlett. 1999b. A field guide to Florida reptiles and amphibians. Gulf Publishing Company, Houston, Texas. xvi + 278 pp.
Collins, J. T. 1990. Standard common and current scientific names for North American amphibians and reptiles. 3rd ed. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. Herpetological Circular No. 19. 41 pp.
Collins, J. T., and T. W. Taggart. 2002. Standard common and current scientific names for North American amphibians, turtles, reptiles, & crocodilians. Fifth edition. Publication of The Center for North American Herpetology, Lawrence, Kansas. iv + 44 pp.
Collins, P. W., and S. B. George. 1990. Systematics and taxonomy of island and mainland populations of western harvest mice (<i>Reithrodontomys megalotis</i>) in southern California. Nat. Hist. Mus. Los Angeles County, Contr. in Sci. (420):1-26.
Conant, R. and J. T. Collins. 1991. A field guide to reptiles and amphibians: eastern and central North America. Third edition. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Massachusetts. 450 pp.
Crother, B. I. (editor). 2017. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico, with comments regarding confidence in our understanding. 8th edition. SSAR Herpetological Circular 43:1-104. [Updates in SSAR North American Species Names Database at: https://ssarherps.org/cndb]
Crother, B. I., J. Boundy, J. A. Campbell, K. de Queiroz, D. R. Frost, R. Highton, J. B. Iverson, P. A. Meylan, T. W. Reeder, M. E. Seidel, J. W. Sites, Jr., T. W. Taggart, S. G. Tilley, and D. B. Wake. 2000 [2001]. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico, with comments regarding confidence in our understanding. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Herpetological Circular No. 29. 82 pp.
Crother, B. I., J. Boundy, J. A. Campbell, K. de Quieroz, D. Frost, D. M. Green, R. Highton, J. B. Iverson, R. W. McDiarmid, P. A. Meylan, T. W. Reeder, M. E. Seidel, J. W. Sites, Jr., S. G. Tilley, and D. B. Wake. 2003. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico: update. Herpetological Review 34:198-203.
Dundee, H. A., and D. A. Rossman. 1989. The amphibians and reptiles of Louisiana. Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge.
Frost, D. R. 2002. Amphibian Species of the World: an online reference. V2.21 (15 July 2002). Electronic database available at http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.html.
Frost, D.R. 2020. Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA. Online: http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.html
García-París, M., D.R. Buchholtz, and G. Parra-Olea. 2003. Phylogenetic relationships of Pelobatoidea re-examined using mtDNA. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 28:12-23.
Trauth, S. E., H. W. Robison, and M. V. Plummer. 2004. The amphibians and reptiles of Arkansas. University of Arkansas Press.

Scaphiopus hurterii

Habitat

Reproduction

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