spadefoot
Americannoun
-
spadefoots
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of spadefoot
Example Sentences
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"I'm really more of a paleoecologist, paleogeographer, not a taxonomist," says Dr. Cruz, who noticed unusual features in the Tar Pits specimens that distinguished S. labreae from known spadefoot toads.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
Unearthing the spadefoot toad wasn’t the result of a targeted search — it happened by accident, much like many of history’s greatest finds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Under the right conditions, the spadefoot tadpole will transform into a voracious predator of its own species.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 30, 2023
In one species of spadefoot toad, they found, the carnivorous tadpole stage has become entrenched—there's no need for a dietary trigger.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 28, 2018
The spadefoot toads and turtles and slithering creatures, the chattering of black insects.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
“This is a behavior that breaks all the rules of evolution,” says Karin Pfennig, a biologist at the University of North Carolina who studies the spadefoots.
From New York Times ● Aug. 14, 2014
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