arroyo toad

noun

: a stocky, blunt-nosed toad (Anaxyrus californicus synonym Bufa californicus) that has a dark-spotted, olive-green to light brown back, a white or buff belly, and a light-colored, V-shaped stripe across the head and eyelids and that occurs in and around streams from southwestern California to northwestern Baja California

… it has been off-limits to off-road enthusiasts, primarily because of fears that trail bikers would wipe out the local population of the arroyo toad, an endangered species that lives and breeds dangerously close to the creek crossing.

—Fred Alvarez, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 1995

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1915, in the meaning defined above

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