Three new species of toads have been discovered living in Nevada’s Great Basin in an expansive survey of the 190,000 square mile ancient lake bottom. Discoveries of new amphibians are extremely rare, with only three new frog species discovered since 1985 – and toad species are even more rare, with the last species discovered north of Mexico, the now extinct Wyoming toad, in 1968. The three new species, the Dixie Valley toad, Railroad Valley toad and Hot Creek toad are not connected geographically. The lead scientist on the project, University of Nevada biologist Dick Tracy, says these are new true species separated from other populations for 650,000 years.