Colorado river toad
Incilius alvarius (Girard in Baird, 1859)
LCLeast Concernfrogs and toads
The colorado river toad (Incilius alvarius) is a species in the family Bufonidae, order Anura. Recorded adults weigh about 237.7 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the colorado river toad
- Weight
- 237.7 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- up to 16.5 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 15.4 years
- Main food
- arthropodssrc for Main food
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- 7,500 – 8,000src for Young per litter or clutch
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the colorado river toad live?
Not recorded
What is the colorado river toad?
The Colorado River toad (Incilius alvarius), (previously Bufo alvarius) also known as the Sonoran Desert toad, is a toad species found in northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It is well known for its ability to exude toxins that have psychoactive properties from glands within its skin.
The toad's scientific name was formerly Bufo alvarius, the name by which the toad is generally still known. In the early 2000s, the increasingly important role of molecular genetic techniques in taxonomy and their ability to examine phylogenetic relationships allowed scientists to discover numerous distinct genera within the old Bufo group.
The Colorado River toad's name was subsequently changed to Incilius alvarius.
From the Wikipedia article “Colorado River toad” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Colorado_River_toad&oldid=1379130346), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the colorado river toad endangered?
The colorado river toad is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the colorado river toad classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAmphibia
- orderAnura
- familyBufonidae
- genusIncilius
- SpeciesIncilius alvarius (Girard in Baird, 1859)
Synonyms Bufo alvarius, Cranopsis alvaria, Ollotis alvaria, Phrynoidis alvarius
Other names and names in other languages (13)
- Colorado river toad / Sonoran desert toadEnglish
- Colorado river toad Sonoran desert toadEnglish
- Colorado river toad Sonoran desert toadEnglish
- Sonoran desert toadEnglish
- ropucha coloradskáCzech
- Colorado-KröteGerman
- Sonora-WüstenkröteGerman
- Sapo del desierto de SonoraSpanish
- Crapaud du désertFrench
- コロラドリバーヒキガエルJapanese
- ColoradopadDutch
- Sapo-de-SonoraPortuguese
- Колорадская жабаRussian
Relatives of the colorado river toad
Other species in the same genus Incilius.
Golden toad
Incilius periglenes
Gulf coast toad
Incilius valliceps
Holdridge's toad
Incilius holdridgei
Leopard-bellied scrub toad
Incilius signifer
Rainforest toad
Incilius aucoinae
Campbell's forest toad
Incilius campbelli
CompareColorado river toad vs Golden toadColorado river toad vs Gulf coast toadColorado river toad vs Holdridge's toadColorado river toad vs Leopard-bellied scrub toad
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the colorado river toad?
An adult colorado river toad weighs 237.7 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the colorado river toad endangered?
The colorado river toad is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What does the colorado river toad eat?
Its recorded main food is arthropods.
What kind of animal is the colorado river toad?
The colorado river toad (Incilius alvarius) belongs to the family Bufonidae in the order Anura.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Colorado river toad (Incilius alvarius). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/colorado-river-toad
“Colorado river toad (Incilius alvarius).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/colorado-river-toad.
@misc{colorado_river_toad_2026,
title = {Colorado river toad (Incilius alvarius)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/colorado-river-toad},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}