A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found in adult amphibians such as a lateral line, gills and swimming tails. As they undergo metamorphosis, they start to develop functional lungs for breathing air, and the diet of tadpoles changes drastically.
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.
The European spadefoot toads are a family of frogs, the Pelobatidae, with only one extant genus Pelobates, containing six species. They are native to Europe, the Mediterranean, northwestern Africa, and western Asia.
The Scaphiopodidae are a family of American spadefoot toads, which are native to North America. The family is small, comprising only seven different species.
Spea hammondii, also known as the western spadefoot, western spadefoot toad, Hammond's spadefoot, or Hammond's spadefoot toad, is a species of amphibian in the family Scaphiopodidae. It is found in western California (USA) and northwestern Baja California (Mexico). The specific name hammondii is in honor of physician and naturalist William Alexander Hammond.
Scaphiopus is a genus of North American amphibian commonly referred to as the North American spadefoots, southern spadefoots, or eastern spadefoot toads. They differ greatly from true toads by having eyes with vertical pupils, no parotoid gland, and relatively smooth skin. Their most distinctive feature is a spade-like projection on their hind feet, from which their common name is derived. This projection enables spadefoot toads to dig in loose soils with ease. Its scientific name means ‘spade-foot’ as well, from the Ancient Greek skaphís and pous.
Pelobates fuscus is a species of toad in the family Pelobatidae, native to an area extending from Central Europe to Western Asia. It is commonly known as the common spadefoot, garlic toad, the common spadefoot toad and the European common spadefoot.
The common parsley frog is a species of frog in the genus Pelodytes. It lives in the Iberian region in southwestern Europe.
The Texas toad is a species of medium-sized toad that occurs in the southern United States and northern Mexico. It breeds in temporary water pools after heavy rains.
Couch's spadefoot toad or Couch's spadefoot is a species of North American spadefoot toad. The specific epithet couchii is in honor of American naturalist Darius Nash Couch, who collected the first specimen while on a personal expedition to northern Mexico to collect plant, mineral, and animal specimens for the Smithsonian Institution.
The plains spadefoot toad is a species of American spadefoot toad which ranges from southwestern Canada, throughout the Great Plains of the western United States, and into northern Mexico. Like other species of spadefoot toads, they get their name from a spade-like projection on their hind legs which allows them to dig into sandy soils. Their name, in part, comes from their keratinized metatarsals, which are wide instead of "sickle shaped". The species name translates as buzzing leaf shaped. This refers to the species' distinguishing features; its buzzing mating call, and its leaf-shaped digging metatarsals. It was first described by Cope in 1863.
The New Mexico spadefoot toad is a species of American spadefoot toad found in the southwestern United States and Mexico. Like other species of spadefoot toad, they get their name from a distinctive spade-like projections on their hind legs which enable them to dig in sandy soils. Spea multiplicata can be identified by its wedge-shaped spade. Some sources also refer to the species as the Mexican spadefoot toad, desert spadefoot toad or southern spadefoot toad.
The Japanese common toad, Japanese warty toad or Japanese toad is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to Japan. Its natural habitats are subarctic forests, temperate forests, temperate shrubland, swamps, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, freshwater springs, arable land, rural gardens, urban areas, ponds, and irrigated land. Amplexus is the mating behaviour involved in the Japanese common toad during the breeding season.
Pelobates varaldii, the Moroccan spadefoot toad, Moroccan spadefoot, or Varaldi's spadefoot toad, is a species of frog in the family Pelobatidae. As currently known, it is endemic to the coastal north-western Morocco, although there is an unconfirmed record from the Spanish territory of Melilla that could possibly represent this species. The specific name varaldii honours Marcel Varaldi who collected amphibians and reptiles in Morocco.
The Iberian parsley frog is a species of frogs in the family Pelodytidae, known as "parsley frogs" because of their green speckles. This species is only found in Portugal and Spain; in Spanish it is known as sapillo moteado ibérico.
The Great Basin spadefoot is an amphibian in the family Scaphiopodidae. It is 3.8 to 6.3 centimetres long and is usually colored gray, olive or brown. Great Basin spadefoot toads have adapted to life in dry habitats. They use the hard, keratinized spade on each foot to dig a burrow, where they spend long periods during cold and dry weather. They are opportunistic hunters and will eat anything they can subdue. While their tadpoles have numerous predators, adults are able to produce skin secretions that deter enemies.
The Pelobatoidea are a superfamily of frogs. They typically combine a toad-like body shape with a frog-like, pointed face. Phylogenetically they stand between primitive frogs on the one side and higher frogs on the other and are therefore – among other things by characteristics of bone construction – in the suborder Mesobatrachia.
Pelobates syriacus, the eastern spadefoot or Syrian spadefoot, is a species of toad in the family Pelobatidae, native to an area extending from Eastern Europe to Western Asia.
