Its brown color gives the large-crested toad the perfect camouflage on the forest floor. This species spends most of the year hiding in the forest, but once a year after the end of the rainy season, all the adults from the population travel to the river to breed. Females lay eggs in small ponds along the riverside. It feeds on a wide variety of arthropods.

This species is endemic to Mexico, it is distributed in the States of Puebla and Veracruz, but the largest population inhabits in Xocoyolo Rift in the North Sierra of Puebla. It is endangered due to forest loss and pollution of the rivers where it breeds.