Take home this booklet of 10 Permanent™ domestic rate stamps that features two endangered frog species found in Canada – the Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa) and Fowler’s toad (Anaxyrus fowleri).
The two stamps feature illustrations of the Oregon spotted frog and Fowler’s toad.
These two frog species face many threats, including loss of habitat from human activity, invasive organisms and pollutants.
Canada Post has a longstanding tradition of showcasing Canadian wildlife and using stamps to raise awareness of the impacts of human activity on animal populations. Examples include Endangered Turtles (2019), Bears (2019), Endangered Whales (2022) and Animal Mothers and Babies (2023).
Oregon spotted frogs are brown or reddish-brown with light‑centred black spots on their heads, backs, sides and legs. They also have two dorsolateral folds, which are ridges of glandular skin that run down each side of the back. Adult Oregon spotted frogs look like they have been painted orange to brick red on their bellies, thighs and sides, whereas juveniles have white bellies that become increasingly red as they mature.
Adults can grow up to 10 centimetres in length, and females are larger than males.
In Canada, Oregon spotted frogs are found exclusively in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley. They are also found in the United States – in a small number of sites in Washington and Oregon. It is extirpated from California.
These frogs spend most of their time in the water. The webbing on their hind feet extends to the tip of their toes, making them efficient swimmers.
Unlike most other frogs, their eyes are angled upward, which helps them to remain almost entirely submerged while still able to see above water.
Inhabiting warm, shallow wetlands with emergent and floating vegetation, Oregon spotted frogs eat a variety of insects such as beetles and flies, as well as spiders and other invertebrates. The tadpoles eat algae, decaying plant matter and detritus.
Fowler’s toad (Anaxyrus fowleri)Fowler’s toads are grey to buff coloured above, with small dark spots and warts on the back, and a white or cream-coloured belly. Males have a dark-coloured throat, while females’ throats are white.
Adults range in size from about 5 cm to over 8 cm in length.
In Canada, Fowler’s toads are found only on the north shore of Lake Erie (in Ontario), on sandy beaches and dunes. They breed in shallow ponds, pools and marshes. They are also found in much of the eastern United States.
Primarily nocturnal, adult Fowler’s toads mainly eat insects and other small terrestrial invertebrates, while tadpoles consume mainly algae and aquatic plants.
The male’s call has been likened to a shrill scream or agonized wail.
The two stamps feature illustrations of the Oregon spotted frog and Fowler’s toad.
The booklet front cover features an image of a Fowler’s toad. The outside left panel shows a male Fowler’s toad with its vocal sac inflated to amplify its mating calls.
The image on the inside left panel shows an Oregon spotted frog eating a northern bluet (a species of damselfly), one of the insects in its diet.
The illustrations on the inside right panel show the life cycle of the Oregon spotted frog (top) and of Fowler’s toad (bottom), from egg, through tadpole, to full-grown frog or toad.
The colour bars depict tadpoles.