| Pelobates syriacus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Eastern spadefoot toad | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Family: | Pelobatidae |
| Genus: | Pelobates |
| Species: | P. syriacus |
| Binomial name | |
| Pelobates syriacus Boettger, 1889 | |
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.
The eastern spadefoot is a plump toad with a large head with a flat topped skull, large, protruding eyes and vertical slit-like pupils. It can grow to a length of about 9 centimetres (3.5 in). The skin is smooth with a scattering of small warts. The male has a large gland at the back of his fore legs which becomes enlarged in the breeding season. The front foot has four toes and the back foot has five with deeply indented webbing between them. The hind legs are short and at the back of each hind foot is a yellowish bony protuberance, the inner metatarsal tubercle or spade, that gives the animal its name. The colour of the frog is quite variable, the back often being pale grey with large, greenish, irregularly shaped blotches and the belly being pale grey. The eastern spadefoot can be distinguished from the western spadefoot ( Pelobates cultripes ) by the colour of the spade which is black in the latter, and from the common spadefoot ( Pelobates fuscus ) by the fact that its head is not domed. [2] [3]
The eastern spadefoot is native to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Macedonia, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Syria and Turkey. It is quite common in Iran but is uncommon over much of its range. It is thought to be extinct in Jordan and its status is unclear in Albania, Iraq, Moldova and Ukraine. [1] Research led by the Palestine Museum of Natural History found it in the West Bank at Wadi Qana. [4]
It lives in light woodland, bushy and semi-desert areas, badlands, arable fields and dunes. It prefers loose soil where it can use its spades to dig the burrow in which it lives, but is also found in rocky areas and pebbly clay soils. [3] The range of eastern spadefoot is limited by mean annual temperature and rainfall (the species does not live in the areas with insufficient summer temperature and in areas with a high rainfall level), but the northern distribution limit may additionally depend on the distribution of common spadefoot. [5] Because the species has large tadpoles, the distribution is additionally limited by presence of sufficiently large but fishless ponds. [5]
The eastern spadefoot has a distinctive call, usually emitted from underwater and often continuing all night. It is a rapid, staccato "clock...clock...clock" that is audible from some way away. [2]
The eastern spadefoot is nocturnal and returns to the same lair each night when it has finished foraging for molluscs, spiders, insects and other small arthropods. As well as digging its own burrow, it sometimes makes use of a rodent hole or a crevice under a rock. At times when the air temperature is very hot it retires to the deepest part of its burrow and may aestivate in mid-summer. [3] At these times the toads that live in the moist soil of riverbanks may fare better than those elsewhere and in times of drought, there may be a high mortality rate among toads. [3]
In the winter it hibernates among tree roots or under rocks, sometimes several toads huddling together. Breeding takes place from February to May depending on location. Ditches and stagnant pools are favoured locations for amplexus. Several thousand eggs are laid in broad bands of gelatinous material that may be 2 cm (0.8 in) thick and 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) long. The tadpoles hatch after three days, eat algae and water weeds and grow for three or four months before they undergo metamorphosis into juvenile toads. Many of these burrow into the mud at the edge of ponds to overwinter but some may overwinter as tadpoles. [2] [3]
The eastern spadefoot is considered of "Least concern" by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The chief threat it faces is habitat loss due to changes in land use and the drainage of areas in which it breeds. It has a wide distribution and is believed to have a large population, so, although its range is rather fragmented, it is thought to be declining sufficiently slowly as to not need to be listed in a more threatened category. However, some of its separate populations are susceptible to local extinction due to adverse conditions, especially in arid areas. [1]
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 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.
Scaphiopus holbrookii, commonly known as the eastern spadefoot, is a species of American spadefoot toad endemic to the eastern United States. It is not considered a true toad.
The wildlife of Israel includes the flora and fauna of Israel, which is extremely diverse due to the country's location between the temperate and the tropical zones, bordering the Mediterranean Sea in the west and the desert in the east. Species such as the Syrian brown bear and the Arabian ostrich have become extinct in Israel because of their loss of habitat. As of May 2007, 190 nature reserves have been established in Israel.
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 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 cultripes is a toad species in the family Pelobatidae. It is known under many different common names, including the western spadefoot, Iberian spadefoot toad, Spanish spadefoot toad, and Wagler's spadefoot toad. It is found in most of the Iberian Peninsula with isolated populations southern and western France.
P. syriacus may refer to:
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| Authority control databases: National |
|---|
