This observation lies outside the range iNat has for this species. This could mean iNat's range is wrong, the ID is wrong, a vagrant occurrence, or a range expansion!
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It's not as heavily red as other A. punctatus I've seen, and the parotoids are intermediate in size. The leg banding is also intermediate from what my field guide pictures illustrate/suggest. I leaned in this direction, but I was toying with punctatus as a candidate.
Arroyo Toad is very rare and limited in range so I'd be surprised to see it out there, though of course it is possible. They live in gravely stream areas, that aren't necessarily running all year but do need a fair bit of water. You'd have to be near a fairly major wash in Joshua Tree to get close to the right habitat, I think.
The data quality assessment is a summary of an observation's accuracy. All
observations start as "casual" grade, and achieve
"research" grade when
the iNat community agrees with the observer's ID, where an "agreeing"
identification is one that matches exactly or is of a child taxon of the
observer's ID. For example, if Scott says it's a mammal and Ken-ichi
says it's Homo sapiens, then Ken-ichi agrees with Scott.
the observation has a date
the observation is georeferenced (i.e. has lat/lon coordinates)
the observation has a photo
Observations will revert to "casual" grade if the above conditions aren't met or
the community agrees the location doesn't looks accurate (e.g. monkeys in the middle of the ocean, hippos in office buildings, etc.)
the community agrees the organism isn't wild/naturalized (e.g. captive or cultivated by humans or intelligent space aliens)
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Comments & Identifications
You sure this isn't red spotted toad? Check out the possibilities:
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identotron?observation_id=73799#q=&place=917&taxon=64747
It's not as heavily red as other A. punctatus I've seen, and the parotoids are intermediate in size. The leg banding is also intermediate from what my field guide pictures illustrate/suggest. I leaned in this direction, but I was toying with punctatus as a candidate.
Arroyo Toad is very rare and limited in range so I'd be surprised to see it out there, though of course it is possible. They live in gravely stream areas, that aren't necessarily running all year but do need a fair bit of water. You'd have to be near a fairly major wash in Joshua Tree to get close to the right habitat, I think.
Hmm - interesting - would be great to finally confirm a Red Spotted Toad from CA, maybe someone else can chime in on this?
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