Scientific name: Bufo bufo
Systematics:
Order:
Anura Family: Bufonidae
Genre:
Bufo Species: Bufo
Distribution:
The common toad is found throughout Europe, North is throughout Great Britain and Scandinavia, south to reach North Africa, eastward extending in a large part of Eurasia reaching almost to China, west to the Iberian peninsula. In Italy is present in all regions except for Sardinia, where, however, have been found fossil remains.
ID:
The common toad is an amphibian anurans that reaches the largest among those in Europe. Adult females in fact, they can occasionally reach and exceed 20 cm in length, especially in South distribution area. The species has a very solid physique: the head is rounded and the eyes with iris reddish / auburn and pupil level. Right behind them are present on both sides of the head of two large glands parotoidi rather oblique, well in relief. These are the main center of secretion in the mix of toxic and irritating to the mucous membranes of mammals, which are used as a defense. Contrary to what often recount legends and folk sayings, the toad's urine which is often emitted from the animal to reduce and run away as quickly as it is quite harmless. The toxic substances produced by glands parotoidi are irritating but only if they come into contact with the gastro-intestinal mucosa or the eyes and not the animal can not be "spraying" at a distance but only on the skin to secrete. I gables are visible and generally with a smaller diameter than the eye. Most warts are spread throughout the body and many of them have a component of the cornea, individuals have the skin very dry and very thick, the hind legs are rather long and occur during the reproductive period of a small membrane joining the toes .
The color of the back is rather uniform: different shades of brown, beige, tan, occasionally dark green or gray, are still very frequent marmorizzature clearer. The belly is always light gray uniform. The newly-metamorphosed, some months after leaving the water and with a length of 2 to 3 cm appear quite reddish.
Sexual dimorphism is relatively pronounced especially during the breeding season. Males are rarely longer than 10 to 12 cm, usually less, and the front legs are swollen, often described as muscular, the first three fingers of the front legs always show the presence of calluses wedding that blacks appear as thickening in the present top of the fingers themselves. Those on the first two fingers are present all year long, the callus wedding on the third finger usually appears during the breeding season. As in most of the male anurans, are of secondary sexual characteristics, and help the male to keep a steady grip on the body of the female during mating. The Head of males appears more pointed than the females, which is more rounded, like the build is much more slender in males and females appear more coarse and "belly". The hind legs in males, especially during the breeding season, have a wide Webbing.
Habitat:
The species is present in many different environmental types to more than 2000 meters. It is commonly found in forests, Mediterranean scrub, coastal dunes, campaigns more or less open and very frequently in very populated areas such as gardens, villas and parks in towns and cities.
Biology:
The common toad lives most of the year on the ground and moves water only to lay their eggs. The activity is concentrated mainly at night, despite often read that occasionally can be seen in broad daylight, especially during rainy periods, this is especially true during reproductive migrations.
By day, the species takes refuge in crevices of the soil under the litter of dead leaves or under logs, in the same shelter that can be used for relatively long periods. Depending on your climate zone may experience a busy real hibernating animals that spend sunken in the ground, back in Mediterranean climates often do not experience a period of winter diapause but one of summering at the height of the dry season.
predation activity is directed towards invertebrates that live at ground level and the size and species vary depending on the size of the animal, the method of hunting is described as "sit and wait" since the animal remains property and waits for its prey to come close enough to be captured with the help of language. Worms, molluscs, insects and other arthropods are part of the diet type. Individuals particularly large prey may even small vertebrates such as reptiles and other amphibians and small mammals.
Reproduction: The common toad is played once a year. Individuals outside the breeding season, may also be located several kilometers from the water used for spawning. Before arriving in water so you can see the real collective migration of all members of the public towards the body of water, they often begin during the autumn migration, broke off during the winter and resume in the spring. The spawning and spawning, as well as in other species of amphibians, is tightly regulated by climatic conditions. Depending on the environment attended pairs from the population can occur from January to June, usually in March-April. Reproductions are occasionally observed in autumn.
bodies of water used by the common toad are varied: slow current loops of brooks, streams and rivers are frequently used as the banks of ponds and lakes. Often used also collected water artificially. In general, the species lays in reproductive habitat and often with the presence of mature fish. Has been frequently described the phenomenon for which homing reproductive individuals tend to return to breed in aquatic site that they were born. This feature is true, but we must not forget that the toad Common is still a good colonizer, and is therefore able to also use new training sites.
The reproductive period and in general the couplings have a very stressful period for this species, the sex ratio in the common toad is highly skewed towards males, and generally they far exceed the number of females so that an average of three males for every female is the norm. This means that the females arrive at the reproductive site very often already mated with a male and there are others waiting in the water. Observe clusters of common toads in water is by no means rare, the female is often surrounded and "embraced" from 4:00 to 5:00, if not more, examples of the opposite sex and often it was observed that females may die suffocated for it. Is also quite common that males exchange or inanimate objects often female frog to frog. Usually, however, the males arrive at the site in advance of the female reproductive system and begin to recall them in chorus. Since we do not have a lot outside the voice call is rather weak but very characteristic, has often been described as a "quarch-quarch-quarch" with 2 to 3 syllables per second. The real point of marriage issued by the male during mating but is much rarer to hear. Spawning can take real few hours and ends with the release of the aquatic vegetation or around any object in water of a gelatinous cord of three - four meters containing a variable number of eggs, up to about 10,000 according to the age of the female, the females older they tend to lay more eggs. Hatching, depending on the temperature, takes about two weeks later and the larvae metamorphosed after about three - four months.
The larvae are easily identified: the color is uniformly black or very dark brown and length at the formation of the hind leg reaches a maximum of 3 cm, so that at metamorphosis along the common toad is only 1 to 1.5 cm.
The tadpoles are often prey to newts and aquatic invertebrates, fish seem to be disdained by probably because of their unpleasant taste. Adults are usually preyed upon by snakes of the genus Natrix that are immune to the poisonous secretions they produce. Many birds of prey day and night and crows feed on adult frogs and they are not immune to the toxic secretions stripping eating animals with the beak the internal tissues that are completely free of poison. Many small mammals such as foxes and mustelids may occasionally kill adult without potersene feed.
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