List of amphibians of Great Britain

This is a list of amphibians of Great Britain. There are seven extant amphibian species native to Great Britain, in addition, there are a number of naturalized species and extirpated/extinct species. The extant natives comprise three newts, two toads and two frogs. Creating a complete list of native species is difficult as many subfossils have been discovered that cannot be properly identified leading to some species becoming endangered or extinct by the time they are found to be native.

Extant native species

Pleurodelinae

Adult	Name	Larva
	Great crested newt (Triturus cristatus)
	Smooth newt (Lissotriton vulgaris)
	Palmate newt (Lissotriton helveticus)

Bufonidae

Adult	Name	Tadpole
	Common toad (Bufo bufo)
	Natterjack toad (Epidalea calamita)

Ranidae

Adult	Name	Tadpole / froglet
	Common frog (Rana temporaria)
	Pool frog (Pelophylax lessonae)

Extinct native species

• Moor frog (Rana arvalis) — Extinct since the middle ages to wetland drainage and destruction of peat bogs; may have survived into the early modern era ^[1] .
• Agile frog (Rana dalmatina) — Became extinct at some point during the Holocene due to wetland drainage; may have survived into the early modern era<ref ^[1] .
• European tree frog (Hyla arborea) — Became extinct in the 1990s due to over-colection and loss of scrubland habitat ^[1] .
• Common parsley frog (Pelodytes punctatus) — Became extinct sometime between the late Pleistocene and early Holocene likely due to human activity. ^[2] .
• Common spadefoot (Pelobates fuscus) — Became extinct sometime between the late Pleistocene and early Holocene likely due to human activity. ^[2] .

Naturalised and escaped species

• Salamanders and newts
  • Fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra)
  • Alpine newt (Ichthyosaura alpestris) — invasive ^[3]
  • Italian crested newt (Triturus carnifex) ^[4]
• Toads
  • Midwife toad (Alytes obstetricans) — naturalised (possibly native) ^[5]
  • Yellow-bellied toad (Bombina variegata) — was naturalised current status unknown - likely restricted to Devon if still present. ^[6]
• Frogs
  • Painted frog (Discoglossus pictus) — has bred at least once ^[7]
  • Australian green tree frog (Litoria caerulea) — has bred at least once^{[ citation needed ]}
  • Marsh frog (Pelophylax ridibundus) — invasive ^[8]
  • Edible frog (Pelophylax kl. esculentus) — invasive ^[9]
  • Iberian water frog (Pelophylax perezi) – invasive at RSPB Ham wall nature reserve ^[10]
  • American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeiana) — successfully bred - considered invasive ^[11]
  • African clawed toad (Xenopus laevis) — two invasive populations survived in the UK for 50 years, now extinct apart from in Calderstones Park. ^[12]

References

1. "Species".
2. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Fossil-record-of-Pelodytes-punctatus-outside-its-current-range-in-northern-Europe-1_fig5_264981397.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
3. "Alpine newt". Lothian Amphibian and Reptile Group. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
4. Inns, Howard (2009). Britain's reptiles and amphibians. Old Basing: WILDGuides. p. 146. ISBN   978-1-903657-25-6.
5. "Alytes obstetricans: midwife toad". AmphibiaWeb. 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
6. Sergius Kuzmin, Mathieu Denoël, Brandon Anthony, Franco Andreone, Benedikt Schmidt, Agnieszka Ogrodowczyk, Maria Ogielska, Milan Vogrin, Dan Cogalniceanu, Tibor Kovács, István Kiss, Miklós Puky, Judit Vörös, David Tarkhnishvili, Natalia Ananjeva (2009). "Bombina variegata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2009 e.T54451A11148290. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009.RLTS.T54451A11148290.en . Retrieved 1 September 2021.
7. "AmphibiaWeb - Rhinella gallardoi". AmphibiaWeb. 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
8. "Pelophylax ridibundus: marsh frog". AmphibiaWeb. 2007. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
9. "Pelophylax esculentus: edible frog". AmphibiaWeb. 1999. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
10. ARC (nd). Alien amphibian and reptile species in the UK. Bournemouth: Amphibian and Reptile Conservation.
11. "American Bull Frog". Froglife. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
12. Tinsley, Richard C.; Stott, Lucy C.; Viney, Mark E.; Mable, Barbara K.; Tinsley, Matthew C. (2015). "Extinction of an introduced warm-climate alien species, Xenopus laevis, by extreme weather events". Biological Invasions. 17 (11): 3183–3195. Bibcode:2015BiInv..17.3183T. doi:10.1007/s10530-015-0944-x. PMC   4581400 . PMID   26430383.