In 1998, the American herpetologist A. W. E. Gergus raised all three to full species status on the basis of allozyme evidence, allopatry and morphology.

[3] This species' range is continuous along the Virgin River and its tributaries in southwestern Utah, and southern Nevada, and in locations across Arizona and western New Mexico.

In Arizona and New Mexico they sometimes occur at higher altitudes, up to about 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) in forested areas in riparian corridors during rainy periods in summer.

Trees and shrubs growing at the streamside include Fremont's cottonwood (Populus fremontii), willows (Salix spp.

The eggs take three to six days to hatch and the development period of the tadpoles before metamorphosis depends largely on the water temperature.

They may live for four or five years and the main cause of mortality is probably predation, with raccoons (Procyon lotor), a medium-sized plover the killdeer (Charadrius vociferus), and the wandering garter snake (Thamnophis elegans vagrans) feeding on the toads.

It is an adaptable species and able to tolerate some degree of habitat modification so the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed it as being of "least concern".