CreatureData

Mexican burrowing toad

Rhinophrynus dorsalis Duméril & Bibron, 1841

LCLeast Concernfrogs and toads

The mexican burrowing toad (Rhinophrynus dorsalis) is a species in the family Rhinophrynidae, order Anura. Recorded adults weigh about 90 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Mexican burrowing toad (Rhinophrynus dorsalis)
Photo: Greg Schechter from San Francisco, USA · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the mexican burrowing toad

Weight
90 gsrc for Weight
Length
up to 8.9 cmsrc for Length
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
arthropodssrc for Main food
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
2,632 – 5,000src 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

Photos of the mexican burrowing toad

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Where does the mexican burrowing toad live?

Not recorded

What is the mexican burrowing toad?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The Mexican burrowing toad (Rhinophrynus dorsalis) is the single living representative of the family Rhinophrynidae. It is a unique species in its taxonomy and morphology, with special adaptations to assist them in digging burrows where they spend most of their time. These adaptations include a small pointed snout and face, keratinized structures and a lack of webbing on front limbs, and specialized tongue morphology to assist in feeding on ants and termites underground. The body is nearly equal in width and length. It is a dark brown to black color with a red-orange stripe on its back along with splotches of color on its body. The generic name Rhinophrynus means 'nose-toad', from rhino- (ῥῑνο-), the combining form of the Ancient Greek rhis (ῥίς, 'nose') and phrunē (φρύνη, 'toad').

The Mexican burrowing toad diverged from other amphibians over 190 million years ago and has been evolving independently for a longer period of time than the evolutionary differences between mammals like humans, fruit bats, polar bears and killer whales. Its closest sister group is Pipidae, or the aquatic clawed frogs.

From the Wikipedia article “Mexican burrowing toad” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mexican_burrowing_toad&oldid=1368671147), 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 mexican burrowing toad endangered?

The mexican burrowing toad is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the mexican burrowing toad classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAmphibia
  4. orderAnura
  5. familyRhinophrynidae
  6. genusRhinophrynus
  7. SpeciesRhinophrynus dorsalis Duméril & Bibron, 1841

Synonyms Rhinophryne rostratus, Rhinophrynus rostratus

Other names and names in other languages (31)
  • Burrowing toadEnglish
  • Burrowing toadEnglish
  • Cone-nosed frogEnglish
  • Cone-nosed frogEnglish
  • Middle American burrowing toadEnglish
  • Middle American burrowing toadEnglish
  • RhinophryneEnglish
  • RhinophryneEnglish
  • bachratka mexickáCzech
  • NasenkröteGerman
  • Mexikanische GrabkröteGerman
  • Mexikanische NasenkröteGerman
  • NasenfroschGerman
  • NangoSpanish
  • PocheSpanish
  • Sapo BorrachoSpanish
  • Sapo excavador mexicanoSpanish
  • sapo moiSpanish
  • Sapo-excavador mexicanoSpanish
  • Crapaud fouisseur du MexiqueFrench
  • Rinofrino dorsaleItalian
  • Rospo scavatore messicanoItalian
  • メキシコジムグリガエルJapanese
  • Straublinė rupūžėLithuanian
  • Nosatka meksykańskaPolish
  • Носатая жабаRussian
  • VeľkonoséSlovak
  • mehiška nosata krastačaSlovenian
  • คางคกโพรงเม็กซิกันThai
  • múuchyua
  • pochiyua

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the mexican burrowing toad

Other species in the same order Anura.

LC, Least Concern
Marsh frog (Pelophylax ridibundus)

Marsh frog

Pelophylax ridibundus

Ranidae

LC, Least Concern
Cane toad (Rhinella marina)

Cane toad

Rhinella marina

Bufonidae

CompareMexican burrowing toad vs Common toadMexican burrowing toad vs Common frogMexican burrowing toad vs Marsh frogMexican burrowing toad vs European tree frog

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the mexican burrowing toad?

An adult mexican burrowing toad weighs 90 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the mexican burrowing toad endangered?

The mexican burrowing toad is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What does the mexican burrowing toad eat?

Its recorded main food is arthropods.

What kind of animal is the mexican burrowing toad?

The mexican burrowing toad (Rhinophrynus dorsalis) belongs to the family Rhinophrynidae in the order Anura.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Mexican burrowing toad (Rhinophrynus dorsalis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/mexican-burrowing-toad

MLA

“Mexican burrowing toad (Rhinophrynus dorsalis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/mexican-burrowing-toad.

BibTeX
@misc{mexican_burrowing_toad_2026,
  title = {Mexican burrowing toad (Rhinophrynus dorsalis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/mexican-burrowing-toad},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}