[6][7][8] It was formerly considered an isolated population of the common western toad (A. boreas) until physical and genetic analyses found it to be a separate species, and described it as such in 2017.

It is descended from an ancestor that inhabited the large lakes and wetlands that covered the Great Basin in the Pleistocene until the receding water isolated the different populations, leading to speciation.

[7] It can be physically distinguished from the western toad by the scattered gold-colored flecks that cover its olive body, and is also the smallest member of the A. boreas species complex in the region.

[7] While it is considered locally abundant within its extremely small range, environmentalist groups believe that it may be threatened by plans to build a binary cycle[9] geothermal power plant, alleging that operations may degrade the marshland that it lives in by drying up the springs.

[13] In April 2022, the Fish and Wildlife Service designated the Dixie Valley toad an endangered species on a temporary, emergency basis.