Due to its breeding and egg laying behavior, climate change and habitat fragmentation strongly affect this species.

Specimens range from 28–56 mm, typically weighing between 2.3 and 12 g.[1] This places them among the smaller members of the family Bombinatoridae, which can reach sizes of 7 cm.

A study conducted by researchers from Brill Academic Publishers had concluded that there are sexually dimorphic differences noted within the species.

[5] It is important to obtain accurate information about the exact issues plaguing the population at a local, regional, and continental scale.

Due to this movement, the ability of the frog to adapt its coloration to suit the environment they are placed in is critical to their survival.

Therefore, on a continental scale, conservation efforts should focus on the creation of metapopulations as a counteractive mechanism, allowing for more interactions to take place and increasing variation through breeding.

[5] Female yellow-bellied toads have the ability to produce offspring multiple times each mating season and long-lived individuals are possible.

Climate especially plays the largest extrinsic role as it mediates the predictability of a habitat for an individual as well as the availability of breeding sites.

The yellow-bellied toad has defense mechanisms such as skin-secreting toxins that decrease its appeal to predators, allowing for a longer life span.

Interestingly, in the yellow-bellied toad, specific populations exhibit a wide range of life spans across the fast-slow continuum, with climate conditions accounting for a significant amount of variation.

[1] Tadpoles and eggs are vulnerable to predation from various small pond-dwelling creatures, such as leeches, fish, and some aquatic beetles.

[8] A study published in 2016 in the Canadian Journal of Zoology indicated that tadpoles in warmer water develop more quickly than those in cooler climates, meant to mimic the differing environments found in forested areas and sunny quarries.

Since yellow-bellied toads have very specific, typically risky, breeding sites, having a territory is very important since the highest chance of offspring survival occurs ponds that last longer.

The loser immediately swims away while the winner begins exhibiting wave-producing behavior at very high frequencies, marking its territory.

[6] Different individuals in the yellow-bellied toad species display variations of the darker dorsal and yellow ventral body, depending on their specific location.

It was found that these individuals adapted to enhance their crypsis, for example covering themselves with pond soil, suggesting an awareness that their dorsal body does not conceal them perfectly in comparison to their environment.

[6] This ability to rapidly change coloration when moving to lighter or darker environments is achieved by the movement of melanosomes, or pigment containing vesicles, to different parts of the cell.

[6]The warts present on the dorsal side of the yellow-bellied toad allow for an opening of venom glands when threatened.