Amphibian Species of the World 5.6, an Online Reference

Scaphiopus couchii Baird, 1854, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 7: 62. Syntypes: Not stated; USNM 3713-15, lost according to Kellogg, 1932, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 160: 20-21. Type locality: "Coahuila and Tamaulipas", Mexico; rendered as "Rio Nasas [Nazas], Coahuila and Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico" by Stejneger and Barbour, 1917, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept.: 25; restricted to "Matamoros, Tamaulipas", Mexico, by Smith and Taylor, 1950, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 33: 345.

Scaphiopus varius Cope, 1863, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 15: 52. Syntypes: USNM 5893 (3 specimens) according to Cochran, 1961, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 220: 78. Type locality: "Cape St. Lucas, Lower [= Baja] California [del Sur]", Mexico. Synonymy by Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 434.

Scaphiopus rectifrenis Cope, 1863, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 15: 53. Syntypes: USNM 3714 (also syntype of Scaphiopus couchi; presumed lost) (Coahuila) and 3715 (Tamaulipas). Type localities: "Tamaulipas" and "Coahuila", Mexico. Synonymy by Cope, 1889, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 34: 301.

Scaphiopus couchii varius — Cope, 1867 "1866", Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 18: 313.

Scaphiopus varius varius — Cope, 1875, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 1: 31.

Scaphiopus varius rectifrenis — Cope, 1875, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 1: 31.

Scaphiopus couchii — Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 434.

Scaphiopus rectifrenis — Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 435.

Spea laticeps Cope, 1893, Am. Nat., 27: 155. Holotype: ANSP 13610, according to Malnate, 1971, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 123: 351. Type locality: "between Seymour, in northwest Texas south of the Red River, and Austin", USA. Synonymy by Chrapliwy and Malnate, 1961, Texas J. Sci., 13: 160-162.

Scaphiopus laticeps — Nieden, 1923, Das Tierreich, 46: 49.

Scaphiopus (Scaphiopus) couchii — Tanner, 1939, Great Basin Nat., 1: 6. Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 130.

Scaphiopus couchii couchii — Smith and Sanders, 1952, Texas J. Sci., 4: 209.

Scaphiopus couchii rectifrenis — Smith and Sanders, 1952, Texas J. Sci., 4: 209.

English Names

Couch's Spade Foot (Scaphiopus couchii: Yarrow, 1882, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 24: 25).

Couch Spadefoot (Scaphiopus couchii: Stebbins, 1951, Amph. W. North Am.: 197).

Great Plains Spadefoot (Scaphiopus couchii: Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 58).

Couch's Spadefoot (Scaphiopus couchii: Strecker, 1915, Baylor Bull., 18: 53; Strecker, 1928, Contr. Baylor Univ. Mus., 16: 8; Wright and Wright, 1933, Handb. Frogs Toads U.S. Canada: ix; Tanner, 1939, Great Basin Nat., 1: 10; Conant, Cagle, Goin, Lowe, Neill, Netting, Schmidt, Shaw, Stebbins, and Bogert, 1956, Copeia, 1956: 177; Stebbins, 1966, Field Guide W. North Am. Rept. Amph.: 56; Conant, 1975, Field Guide Rept. Amph. E. Cent. N. Am., Ed. 2: 300; Collins, Huheey, Knight, and Smith, 1978, Herpetol. Circ., 7: 13; Liner, 1994, Herpetol. Circ., 23: 28; Collins, 1997, Herpetol. Circ., 25: 14; Crother, Boundy, Campbell, de Queiroz, Frost, Highton, Iverson, Meylan, Reeder, Seidel, Sites, Taggart, Tilley, and Wake, 2001 "2000", Herpetol. Circ., 29: 16; Stebbins, 2003, Field Guide W. Rept. Amph., Ed. 3: 202; Frost, McDiarmid, and Mendelson, 2008, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 37: 11; Liner and Casas-Andreu, 2008, Herpetol. Circ., 38: 22; Collins and Taggart, 2009, Standard Common Curr. Sci. Names N. Am. Amph. Turtles Rept. Crocodil., ed. 6: 9; Frost, McDiarmid, Mendelson, and Green, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 21).

Couch's Spadefoot Toad (Scaphiopus couchi: Kellogg, 1932, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 160: 20; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 96).

Sonoran Spadefoot (Scaphiopus couchii: Slevin, 1928, Occas. Pap. California Acad. Sci., 16: 87).

Cape St. Lucas Spade Foot (Scaphiopus varius varius [no longer recognized]: Yarrow, 1882, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 24: 25).

Sonora Spade Foot (Scaphiopus varius rectifrenis [no longer recognized]: Yarrow, 1882, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 24: 25).

Distribution

Southeastern California to southeastern Colorado and southwestern Oklahoma (USA) and south to northern Nayarit, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, northern México, and northern Veracruz (Mexico).

Comment

Reviewed by Wasserman, 1970, Cat. Am. Amph. Rept., 85: 1-4. Grismer, 2002, Amph. Rept. Baja California: 82-84, provided an account for the Baja California, Mexico, population. Stebbins, 2003, Field Guide W. Rept. Amph., Ed. 3: 202-203, provided a brief account, figure, and map.

External Links

Please note: these links will take you to external websites not affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History. We are not responsible for their content.

• For additional sources of information from other sites search Google
• For images search Arkive, CalPhoto Images and Google Images
• To search the NIH genetic sequence database, see GenBank
• For information aggregation from other sites and some original accounts see AmphibiaWeb report
• For further information on conservation status and distribution see the IUCN Redlist
• For related information on conservation and images as well as observation see iNaturalist;
• for a quick link to their maps see iNaturalist KML
• For access to informatoin on fossils see Lisanfos