Help with ID

[chris]

I found some tadpoles at a small temporary pool. It's about 4 inches deep on average and the perimeter is maybe 20 feet by 30 feet, has very little and or sparse vegetation, no other animals besides insect larva, and is located in the southern Appalachians.

If it helps at all, the pond is next to a densely vegetated hill and there is a creek nearby. The far end of the pond was very thick with reeds and cattails(I didn't go look over there because there are known snakes in the area)

They look black and the biggest ones were about 12mm and they already had almost complete hind legs, which makes me think toad. There are thousands of them, but there were no adults or eggs(which makes it a lot harder to ID)

Any help would be appreciated!!

 

[uwe]

Hi Chris,

probably a Bufo (Toad) Species. But without knowing where the place is, there is no way to tell whatever it may be.

Uwe

 

[edward]

Hi Chris,
Did you look at the tadpole key in the back of the Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of the Eastern North America? The line drawings may help you figure out what they were.
If the tadpoles are solid black then they should be a bufo species but without a tadpole in hand to look at the mouth parts and tail fins it is very hard to tell them apart.

Ed

 

[chris]

I'll try and get a good pic, thanks