or 2 strands (1 per ovary, the oviducts fuse just before the cloaca in toads), however egg masses may fold during deposition into radiating clusters 4–5 eggs wide. 1000–2000 eggs beaded in two envelopes are laid by females in shallow pools, tangled in vegetation. Individual eggs are 2.1 mm wide on average, and 4.1 mm including the two envelopes. Tadpoles Tadpoles are 10–37mm TL and jet black throughout, and hence the intestines are not visible ventrally. Their eyes are set dorsally (in contrast to the co-occurring Sierra chorus frog, which has eyes on the outline of the head when viewed from above). In contrast to the Western toad, the snout is shorter and blunted in lateral view, the tail fins are mostly opaque, the tail is deepest about halfway down its length, and the tail tip is more rounded. The labial tooth row formula is 2/3 (2 upper and 3 lower labial tooth rows), and the ratio of lengths of the last 2 rows is 1.6 (in Western toads it is 1.2). Subadults Metamorphs (recently metamorphosed tadpoles) are highly pigmented like tadpoles, and quite small, usually 9–14 mm SVL. Juveniles (1+ years in age) reach sexual maturity after 3–5 years (males) or 4–6 years (females), at which time sex-specific colors and patterns emerge. Until then, juveniles resemble adult females: they have a background color varying from brown to grey with generally unconnected black blotches encircling the warts. Unlike adult females, juveniles have a thin mid-dorsal stripe that is white or cream-colored, and orange tubercles on the undersides of their hands and feet. As juveniles mature, their black blotches expand and interconnect if they are females, or shrink if they are males, and the mid-dorsal stripe shrinks and mostly disappears. Natural history Breeding Yosemite toads are explosive breeders (breeds within a short time period), migrating to breeding pools and flooded areas in late spring while snowbanks still veil the frozen meadows. They have been termed the "toad that stays on its toes" or "tiptoeing toad" due to their habit of crossing snowdrifts without touching their abdomen to the cold snow. Breeding time varies greatly with elevation and yearly snowpack (April to July), and depends on timing of snowmelt. Males arrive to breeding ponds synchronously when the meadow is ca. 50% covered in snow. Depending on the population density they will either join a breeding chorus by making an advertisement call to