European green toad

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European green toad
Bufo viridis sc.JPG
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Bufonidae
Genus: Bufotes
Species:
B. viridis
Binomial name
Bufotes viridis
(Laurenti, 1768)
Pseudepidalea viridis dis.png
European green toad range
Synonyms [1]
  • Bufo viridis
    Laurenti, 1768
  • Pseudepidalea viridis
    Darrel R. Frost et al., 2006
European Green Toad.jpg
European green toad sound

The European green toad (Bufotes viridis) is a species of true toad found in steppes, mountainous areas, semi-deserts, urban areas and other habitats in mainland Europe, ranging from far eastern France and Denmark to the Balkans, Western Russia and the Caucasus. [2] As historically defined, the species ranged east through the Middle East and Central Asia to western China, Mongolia and northwestern India, and south through Italy and the Mediterranean islands to North Africa.

Contents

Following genetic and morphological reviews, 14 populations (all largely or entirely Asian, except for the African and Balearic green toads) are now regarded as separate species. These species and the European green toad are placed in their own genus Bufotes , but they were included in Bufo . [3] [4]

Description

The spots on the back vary from green to dark brown and sometimes red spots appear, too. The underside is white or very lightly coloured. The European green toad will change colour in response to heat and light changes. Females are larger than males and can lay 9,000 to 15,000 eggs at a time.

Bufotes viridis tadpoles Bufo viridis tadpoles.jpg
Bufotes viridis tadpoles

It can reach a maximum size (head and body length) of 10 centimetres (3.9 in), but growth to this size is rare. [5]

Diet

Bufotes viridis eats a variety of insects and invertebrates, mainly crickets, meal worms, small butterflies, earthworms, moths, beetles, ants, spiders [6] and caterpillars. There has also been a reported attack on a bat. [7]

Related Research Articles

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The common toad, European toad, or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply the toad, is a frog found throughout most of Europe, in the western part of North Asia, and in a small portion of Northwest Africa. It is one of a group of closely related animals that are descended from a common ancestral line of toads and which form a species complex. The toad is an inconspicuous animal as it usually lies hidden during the day. It becomes active at dusk and spends the night hunting for the invertebrates on which it feeds. It moves with a slow, ungainly walk or short jumps, and has greyish-brown skin covered with wart-like lumps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">True toad</span> Family of amphibians

A true toad is any member of the family Bufonidae, in the order Anura. This is the only family of anurans in which all members are known as toads, although some may be called frogs. The bufonids now comprise more than 35 genera, Bufo being the best known.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cophylinae</span> Subfamily of amphibians

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<i>Rhinella crucifer</i> Species of amphibian

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<i>Bufotes latastii</i> Species of amphibian

Bufotes latastii, commonly known as the Baltistan toad, Ladakh toad or vertebral-banded toad, is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is found in the West Himalayan region at altitudes of 780–3,200 m (2,560–10,500 ft) from northern Pakistan to Ladakh in India; although sometimes reported elsewhere, this is the result of misidentifications of other species. It is found in alpine forests, coniferous forests, grasslands, paddy fields, mountain desert and roadsides. It often lives near water, like lakes and ponds, in the riparian growth. It can be beneficial to humans as it feeds on insects and their larvae within areas of agriculture.

<i>Bufotes luristanicus</i> Species of amphibian

Bufotes luristanicus, the Lorestan earless toad or Lorestan toad, is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to the Zagros Mountains in Iran and occurs at an altitude of 350–1,300 m (1,150–4,270 ft), most often near rocky outcrops or freshwater ponds, which it also uses for breeding. Little is known about this species, but it is not considered threatened overall. Some local populations may be threatened by habitat loss from human activities or drought.

<i>Bufotes oblongus</i> Species of amphibian

Bufotes oblongus, the Eastern Persian toad or Central Asian toad, is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is found in eastern and central Iran north to adjacent parts of Turkmenistan. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, freshwater marshes, and freshwater springs.

<i>Bufotes pewzowi</i> Species of amphibian

Bufotes pewzowi is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is found in dry plains of Central Asia, the foothills and mountains of Tian Shan, Zhungar Alatau and Pamir Mountains, the mountains and deserts of Western China and Mongolia, and probably westward to northern Afghanistan and north to Lake Balkhash in Kazakhstan and northeast Altai Republic in Russia. The specific name pewzowi honours Michail Wassiljewitsch Pewzow, a Russian geographer, cartographer, and explorer. Common names include Xinjiang toad and Pewzow's toad; when subspecies B. p. strauchi is recognized, it can be referred to as northern Xinjiang toad, while the nominotypic B. p. pewzowi then becomes southern Xinjiang toad.

Bufotes pseudoraddei is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is found in the West Himalayan region, including northern Pakistan and the border area between western Xizang of China and adjacent northwestern India. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, intermittent freshwater marshes, arable land, pastureland, plantations, and rural gardens.

<i>Bufotes surdus</i> Species of amphibian

Bufotes surdus, also known as Iranian earless toad, Iranian toad, Pakistan toad, or Luristan toad, is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is found in southern Iran and western Pakistan. There is also an isolated record from eastern Iraq.

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The Alethinophidia are an infraorder of snakes that includes all snakes other than blind snakes and thread snakes. Snakes have long been grouped into families within Alethinophidia based on their morphology, especially that of their teeth. More modern phylogenetic hypotheses using genetic data support the recognition of 19 extant families, although the taxonomy of alethinophidian snakes has long been debated, and ultimately the decision whether to assign a particular clade to a particular Linnaean rank is arbitrary.

<i>Anaxyrus</i> Genus of true toads in the family Bufonidae.

Anaxyrus is a genus of true toads in the family Bufonidae. The genus is endemic to North and Central America. Some authors consider Anaxyrus to be a subgenus within Bufo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balearic green toad</span> Species of amphibian

The Balearic green toad is a toad belonging to the true toad family, Bufonidae, from Italy and islands in the western Mediterranean Sea. It is mostly a lowland species, but can be found as high as 1,300 m (4,300 ft) asl in central Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polychrotidae</span> Family of lizards

The Polychrotidae family of iguanian lizards contains the living genus Polychrus and the extinct genus Afairiguana. The family Polychrotidae was once thought to encompass all anoles, including those in the genus Anolis. Studies of the evolutionary relationships of anoles based on molecular information has shown that Polychrus is not closely related to Anolis, but instead closer to Hoplocercidae. It is therefore not part of Dactyloidae and instead is treated as the family, Polychrotidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colubroides</span> Clade of snakes

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">African green toad</span> Species of amphibian

The African green toad is a species of toad found in North Africa from Morocco to Egypt, and on the Italian islands of Sicily, Favignana, Lampedusa and Ustica. The populations on the Italian islands were described as a separate species, the Sicilian green toad, in 2008, but more recent authorities treat it as a subspecies of the African green toad because they are very closely related. Both were historically included in the European green toad and all have been included in the genus Bufo. It was previously suggested that the African green toad might range east into Sinai and the Levant, but a review has shown that this involves the related B. sitibundus. The African green toad is found from coastal areas to highland plateaus in forests, scrubland, grassland, semi-deserts and deserts; it breeds in temporary ponds and similar habitats.

<i>Bufotes</i> Genus of amphibians

Bufotes, the Eurasian green toads or Palearctic green toads, is a genus of true toads. They are native to Europe, western and central Asia and northern Africa; a region roughly equalling the western and central Palearctic. Historically they were included in the genus Bufo and then for a few years placed in Pseudepidalea, which is a synonym of the currently accepted name Bufotes.

References

  1. "Bufotes viridis ". Amphibian Species of the World 6.0, an Online Reference. American Museum of Natural History. research.amnh.org/vz/herpetology/amphibia.
  2. https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1453013-Bufotes-viridis
  3. Dufresnes, C.; et al. (2019). "Fifteen shades of green: The evolution of Bufotes toads revisited". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 141: 106615. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2019.106615. PMID   31520778. S2CID   202573454.
  4. Frost, Darrel R. (2020). "Search for Taxon: Bufotes". Amphibian Species of the World, an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History, New York. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  5. Arnold EN, Burton JA (1978). A Field Guide to the Reptiles and Amphibians of Britain and Europe. London: Collins. 272 pp. ISBN   0 00 219318 3. (Bufo viridis, p. 74 + Plate 8 + Map 33).
  6. "AmphibiaWeb - Bufotes viridis".
  7. Mikula P (2015). "Fish and amphibians as bat predators". European Journal of Ecology . 1 (1): 71–80. doi: 10.1515/eje-2015-0010 .

Further reading