Frogs and Toads of Europe: True Toads

Bufo bufo, Common Toad

Bufo spinosus, Spiny Toad, Spiny Common Toad, Giant Toad

Bufotes balearicus, Balearic Green Toad

Bufotes boulengeri, African Green Toad

Bufotes viridis, Green Toad

Epidalea calamita, Natterjack

Scientific Name

Common Name

Distribution

Size

Notes

Family BUFONIDAE

Bufo

Bufo bufo

Common Toad

Europe (inc. GB), temperate Asia, Japan: absent from Malta, Corsica, Sardinia, Crete and the Balearic islands; apparently introduced into Ireland.

5-10 cm (m), 6-18 cm (f)

One of the most widely distributed anurans in the world, stretching across half the globe, yet in danger of severe depletion at the hands of man due to roadkills or general antipathy, despite its usefulness as a consumer of various nocturnal insects, larvae and molluscs. Sexual dimorphism in the Common Toad is very marked, with the females being obviously larger. Most of the year round these toads are solitary creatures and somewhat territorial, excavating their own refuge and having their own hunting territory. However when the breeding season begins in spring (usually end of March in C. Europe) Common Toads travel in their hundreds to their breeding ground, usually a pond in a wood or field, which is often a long distance away - hence the casualties on the roads. If the water covers a large area, the toads remain in a narrow zone at the water's edge. The males make rather muffled calls which travel just far enough to allow the females to locate potential partners. (The males do not have external resonators to amplify their calls, unlike many other anurans). After amplexus the females lay up to 6,000 eggs each in strings that can reach over 2 metres in length. The period from hatching to metamorphosis lasts 2-3 months: the tadpoles form shoals and feed on algae. Common Toads can be distinguished from the Natterjack and Green Toad by the shape of its parotoid glands behind its eyes: in the Common Toad the glands are crescent-shaped, while in the other European toads they are straight.

B. b. bufo

Throughout practically the entire range of B. bufo

B. b. gredosicola

Gredos Toad

Central Spain, Sierra de Gredos

Some doubt has been raised about the status of this subspecies. It is distinguished by exceptionally large parotoid glands and tends to be blotched rather than uniform in colour. See Wikipedia entry.

B. spinosus

Spiny Toad, Spiny Common Toad, Giant Toad [D: westliche Erdkröte, Riesenerdkröte]

Iberian Peninsula, S France, extreme NW Italy, North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia), Channel Islands (Jersey)

6-11 cm (m), 7-18 cm (f)

Nöllert and Nöllert note that there seems to have been considerable hybridisation with B. bufo bufo in Portugal, C & S France, the southern Alps and the northern part of the Balkans. Until recently this species was considered a subspecies of the Common Toad.

Bufotes

Bufotes balearicus

Balearic Green Toad

Mallorca, Minorca, Ibiza

According to Nöllert and Nöllert, these toads were probably brought into the Balearic Islands from Corsica and Sardinia during the Bronze Age for cultic reasons. The species was formerly considered a subspecies of B. viridis.

B. boulengeri

African Green Toad

North Africa (Morocco through to Egypt) and Italian islands (Sicily, Favignana, Lampedusa and Ustica)

B. b. boulengeri

North Africa (Morocco through to Egypt)

B. b. siculus

Sicilian Green Toad

Italian islands (Sicily, Favignana, Lampedusa and Ustica)

B. viridis

Green Toad [D: Wechselkröte]

Central Europe from southern Germany and NE Italy east through eastern Europe and the Balkans to central Russia, south Crete and European Turkey

6-9 cm (m), 7-10 cm (f)

The Green Toad is a handsome amphibian, slimmer and longer-limbed (and thus nimbler and faster) than the Common Toad and larger than the Natterjack. It is also quite tough, being able to survive droughts and high temperatures by sheltering in hideouts that it excavates for itself, and is less fussy than many amphibians about water quality, apparently being able to utilise polluted village ponds or even parts of a sewer. It can be found on seashores, dry steppes or in damp areas, and is not shy of approaching human habitations to catch insects attracted by lights. The European populations evidently prefer low country. The females are larger and plumper than the males. The latter have a visible vocal sac and make mating calls that have been described as "tinkling" or "trilling": these calls are only made in the water. Although breeding takes place in April-May, some males will carry on calling into June. The female lays 12,000 eggs wrapped in gelatinous strings 2-4 metres long: the tadpoles hatch in 4-5 days and develop in 2-3 months. They become the largest tadpoles of the European toad species before metamorphosis. Occasionally hybrid forms of the Natterjack and Green Toad are encountered.

Epidalea

Epidalea calamita

Natterjack [D: Kreuzkröte]

Iberia, W. Europe (inc. GB), Czechoslovakia, Poland, Baltic

4-8 cm (m), 5-9 cm (f)

This species was formerly considered a member of the genus Bufo. The Natterjack is distinctly smaller than Bufo species (Common and Green Toads) and can also be distinguished from the Common Toad by its green, as opposed to yellow, irises. In addition it has a yellow stripe running down its back. Due to its hindlegs being about the same length as its forelegs, the Natterjack runs instead of leaping. Its favourite habitats are found in countryside made up of unfertile soil on a sand or clay base. Populations tend to be small and this toad is nocturnal, soberly coloured and small, so the Natterjack is not often noticed by the casual observer. However, the call of the male in the mating season is quite loud and can reach females some way away. In late spring or early summer the female lays 3,000-4,000 eggs in single or double strings. These are deposited in small pools which dry up: this has the result of causing the larvae to develop quickly. Interestingly larvae near the sea will also develop in brackish water. Diet (mainly insects) and behaviour of the Natterjack are similar to the other Bufo species.