European green toad

Description

The size of males ranges up to eight, females up to nine (ten) cm. While the basic color of the males is rather light gray, this is almost white in the females. Both are covered with green spots (more "washed out" in the male), which are missing only on the belly. On the flanks of the females are usually reddish warts. For the interpretation of the name "changeable toad" either the changing spot pattern is referred to or the ability of the animals to adapt their basic color from light to dark or vice versa depending on the environment. The pupils are horizontal and the iris is lemon-yellow to greenish. Like all Bufonidae, the species has ear glands (parotids) behind the eyes. There are many warts on the upperparts that are not very pronounced.

Habitat

As an eastern steppe species as well as a Mediterranean faunal element, the European green toad is well adapted to dryness and warmth. It prefers open, sun-exposed, dry-warm habitats with burrowable soils and sometimes lacking patchy grass and herbaceous vegetation. It is therefore found mainly in ruderal sites, in dry fallow land in fields, and in excavated areas. It sometimes moves very far away from open water. European green toads are mainly nocturnal. Spawning waters are shallow and poor in vegetation, for example in quarries. Temporary waters with mineral soil are preferred as spawning waters. The European green toad tolerates a slightly increased salinity of the spawning waters of more than ten per mille. Thus, the larvae are also able to develop in brackish ponds at the Baltic Sea. The ecological requirements of the species are similar to those of the natterjack toad, which has a more Atlantic or western distribution.

The text is a translation of an excerpt from Wikipedia (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wechselkröte). On wikipedia the text is available under a „Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike“ licence. Status: 29 June 2021