Spadefoot Toads By Trina Davison

-Spade on each hind foot -Vertical pupils -No parotoid glands -Teeth in upper jaw -Relatively smooth skin Click on the frog to the right to hear adult male sound

A spadefoot toad becomes dormant during the dry season, burying itself underground in a cocoon-like membrane to avoid water loss. Spadefoot toads are burrowing frogs that live in areas with loose, often sandy soil and usually dry weather. Some, like the Plains spadefoot toad, can live in almost desert-like conditions. They come above ground, usually at night following a heavy rain or when the air is humid, to find food. Spring rains also bring the frogs onto land for mating. Those that live in the driest of places, however, may stay underground for all but two weeks of the year.

Big smooth-skinned toad with a silvery gold or greenish eye and a vertical pupil. It is found in parts of France, Spain, and Portugal.

This is a lowland species found throughout much of the plains and hilly regions of Europe.

Found in the eastern countries of the world including; Armenia; Bulgaria; Georgia; Greece; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Israel; Lebanon; Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of; Romania; Russian Federation; Serbia; Syrian Arab Republic; Turkey

Commonly called the Moroccan Spadefoot Toad for the location of this species. It is generally fossorial, inhabiting lowland sandy uncultivated soils, sometimes in the vicinity of cork woodlands. The spawning sites are most often still temporary waterbodies (such as dayas and rain puddles).

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