Amphibians

Yosemite Toad

Anaxyrus canorus · also called Yosemite toads

Endangered ↓ insectivore Mountains

A Yosemite toad has almost no margin for error. Its entire world is a narrow band of wet mountain meadow above 6,000 feet in the central Sierra Nevada, snowbound for most of the year and briefly thawed just long enough each summer for the species to breed, feed, and disappear again before winter returns.

Overview

The Yosemite toad, Anaxyrus canorus, is a high-elevation amphibian endemic to a narrow stretch of California’s central Sierra Nevada. Males and females look strikingly different, and both depend on temporary meadow pools that form briefly after snowmelt each year.

A narrow window closing further

Populations have declined sharply since the mid-1900s from a combination of chytrid fungus, shifting snowmelt patterns tied to a warming climate, and pesticide drift from lower elevations, pressures that fall especially hard on a species with such a short, precisely timed breeding season.

Status

Endangered — protected under United States federal law, with populations now concentrated in a shrinking number of relatively intact high-elevation meadow complexes.

Yosemite Toad: common questions

Why is the Yosemite toad found only in such a small area?

The Yosemite toad depends on a specific combination of high-elevation wet mountain meadow habitat and a short summer growing season found only within a narrow elevation band of the central Sierra Nevada, generally above roughly 6,000 feet, a dependency that has always given the species a naturally small and restricted range even before recent population declines.

Why do male and female Yosemite toads look so different?

Male Yosemite toads typically show a more uniform greenish or olive colouration, while females display a more strongly blotched, contrasting pattern, a degree of visible difference between the sexes that is unusually pronounced compared with most other North American toad species and remains a distinctive identifying feature of the species.

What is causing the Yosemite toad's population decline?

Yosemite toad populations have declined significantly since the mid-1900s due to a combination of factors, including chytrid fungus disease affecting amphibians broadly, changes to snowmelt timing linked to a warming climate that can disrupt the brief breeding window, and pesticide drift reaching high-elevation meadows from agricultural areas at lower elevation.

How short is the Yosemite toad's breeding season?

Because its high-elevation meadow habitat remains snowbound for much of the year, the Yosemite toad has an extremely brief breeding window immediately following snowmelt, with adults gathering quickly at temporary meadow pools to breed before those pools dry up later in the summer season.

Sources & further reading

Written by HideShark Editorial Team · reviewed by HideShark Science Desk. Published September 11, 2026. Last updated September 11, 2026.

Quick facts

Scientific name: Anaxyrus canorus
Diet: An insectivore feeding on beetles, ants, flies, and other small invertebrates found in and around the wet mountain meadows it inhabits, foraging mainly during the brief summer period when its high-elevation habitat is snow-free
Restricted to a narrow band of high elevation: The Yosemite toad is found only within a relatively narrow elevation band of the central Sierra Nevada, generally above roughly 6,000 feet, making its entire range dependent on the specific combination of wet mountain meadow habitat and short growing season found at that altitude
A dramatic difference between males and females: Male and female Yosemite toads look strikingly different, with males typically showing a more uniform greenish or olive colouration while females display a more strongly blotched, contrasting pattern, a degree of visible sexual dimorphism unusual among North American toads
A very short breeding window: Because its high-elevation meadow habitat is snowbound for much of the year, the Yosemite toad has an extremely brief breeding season immediately after snowmelt, with adults gathering quickly at temporary meadow pools before the water dries up later in the summer
Far more males than females at breeding sites: Male Yosemite toads typically far outnumber females at breeding pools, creating intense competition among males for access to the comparatively few available females, a pattern known as scramble competition that is especially pronounced in this species
Declining sharply since the mid-twentieth century: Yosemite toad populations have declined significantly since the mid-1900s across much of the species' historic range, a trend linked to factors including chytrid fungus disease, changing snowmelt patterns tied to a warming climate, and pesticide drift from agricultural areas at lower elevation
Named for its Sierra Nevada home: The Yosemite toad is named for Yosemite National Park, within whose high country the species was first described, though its full range extends somewhat beyond the park's boundaries across a limited stretch of the central Sierra Nevada
Range: High-elevation wet meadows of the central Sierra Nevada in California, United States, generally restricted to elevations above roughly 6,000 feet within and around Yosemite National Park.
Conservation status: Endangered ↓ ≈ Yosemite toad populations have declined sharply across much of the species' historic range in the central Sierra Nevada since the mid-1900s, a trend attributed to a combination of chytrid fungus disease, altered snowmelt timing linked to climate change, and pesticide drift affecting high-elevation meadow habitat. The species is protected under United States federal law, and remaining populations are concentrated in a small number of relatively intact meadow complexes in the wild

Overview

A narrow window closing further

Status

Yosemite Toad: common questions

Sources & further reading

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