biology

Hurter's spadefoot toad

Hurter's spadefoot toad is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hurter's spadefoot toad rather than just read about it. In short: Hurter's spadefoot toad or Hurter's spadefoot (Scaphiopus hurterii) is a species of American spadefoot toad (family Scaphiopodidae) found in the south central United States (Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma); its range might extend to the adjacent northern Mexico. It was once classified as a subspecies of the eastern spadefoot toad (Scaphiopus holbrookii), but it has been granted its own species status.

Key takeaways

Hurter's spadefoot toad belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Hurter's spadefoot toad to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Hurter's spadefoot toad from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Hurter's spadefoot toad or Hurter's spadefoot (Scaphiopus hurterii) is a species of American spadefoot toad (family Scaphiopodidae) found in the south central United States (Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma); its range might extend to the adjacent northern Mexico. It was once classified as a subspecies of the eastern spadefoot toad (Scaphiopus holbrookii), but it has been granted its own species status. The specific name hurterii is in honor of the Swiss-American naturalist and curator of the St. Louis Academy of Sciences, Julius Hurter.

Habitat The species occurs in areas of sandy, gravelly, or soft, light soils in wooded or unwooded terrain and in sandy open woodland and savanna as well as in mesquite scrub. During periods of inactivity it burrows underground. Breeding takes place in temporary pools formed by heavy rains.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hurter's spadefoot toad

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hurter's spadefoot toad claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hurter's spadefoot toad before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hurter's spadefoot toad ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hurter's spadefoot toad

In research: Hurter's spadefoot toad appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Hurter's spadefoot toad in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Hurter's spadefoot toad is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Amphibians described in 1910, Amphibians of the United States, Fauna of the Plains-Midwest (United States), so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hurter's spadefoot toad outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Hurter's spadefoot toad in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hurter's spadefoot toad means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Hurter's spadefoot toad out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hurter's spadefoot toad in simple terms?

Why does Hurter's spadefoot toad matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hurter's spadefoot toad?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hurter's spadefoot toad.