Fabricated ancestrality: The Sonoran Desert toad, psychedelic globalization, and the ecological politics of 5-MeO-DMT

5-methoxy- N,N -dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) is a potent, short-acting psychedelic compound found in several South American plant species and in the glandular secretions of Incilius alvarius, a toad native to the Sonoran Desert. While plant-based snuff preparations containing 5-MeO-DMT have documented use in Indigenous Caribbean and South American contexts, recent claims that toad-derived 5-MeO-DMT forms part of Comcáac (Seri) ancestral tradition have gained global traction despite lacking historical and ethnographic support. Drawing on historical scholarship and contemporary ethnographic field accounts, this article examines how such claims emerged in specific regional contexts and circulated within transnational psychedelic networks. It argues that the contemporary framing of “ancestral toad medicine” exemplifies ancestralization: a process through which recent practices are reframed as ancient to establish cultural authority and legitimacy within the psychedelic field. The resulting fabricated ancestrality has circulated through ritual adaptation, media dissemination, and global retreat economies, contributing to rising demand for toad secretions and increased ecological pressures on Incilius alvarius . Tracing the narrative’s diffusion from Sonora to urban and international settings, and situating it alongside anthropological debates on authenticity and indigeneity in ayahuasca globalization, the analysis highlights the ecological politics embedded in contemporary psychedelic movements. In doing so, it foregrounds the ecological consequences of fabricated ancestrality and calls for historical rigor, intellectual honesty about what is documented and what is newly constructed, and ethical accountability in how toad-derived 5-MeO-DMT is represented, particularly where contemporary practices contribute to extractive pressures on a living species. • Introduces ancestralization and fabricated ancestrality as concepts for analyzing 5-MeO-DMT globalization • Reviews traditional plant-based 5-MeO-DMT use across South America and the Caribbean • Examines claims of ancestral toad secretion use among the Comcáac (Seri) • Traces the ecological politics of fabricated ancestrality and rising demand for toad secretions • Calls for historical rigor, ethical accountability, and conservation-informed 5-MeO-DMT practices