Description
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Parotoids behind the eyes are prominent. Pupil of the eye is horizontal. Tympanic membrane and male guttural resonator. Subarticular tubercles on the inner surface of toes paired. Internal edge of the tarsus with longitudinal skin fold. Tip of the 4th finger does not reach the 1st articulation of 3rd finger. Dorsal skin tuberculate, grayish-olive in color with more or less dark spots and light narrow middorsal line. Belly light. Sexual dimorphism similar to that in the Green Toad (Bufo viridis).The toad has no clearly close relatives but in general it is close to Bufo (sensu stricto).
- Beebee, T. J. C. (1983). The Natterjack Toad. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
- Grosse, W.-R. (1994). ''Biologie und Okologie der Kreuzkrote.'' Berichte des Landesamtes amt für Umweltschutz Sachsen-Anhalt, 14, 1-95.
- Gruodis, S., Zaune, I. and Vilnitis, V. (1986). ''Present situation of the investigation of Running Toad (Bufo calamita Laurenti) in the Eastern Baltics.'' Okhrana. Ekologiya i Etologiya Zhivotnykh, Riga, 73-96.
- Korky, J. K., and Webb, R. G. (1999). ''Resurvey, biogeography and conservation of the Natterjack Toad Bufo calamita Laurenti (Anura: Bufonidae) in the Republic of Ireland.'' Bulletin of the Irish Biogeographical Society, (23), 2-52.
Distribution and Habitat
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The species lives in the Southwestern and Central Europe: Portugal, Spain, France, Southwestern Ireland, Great Britain, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Austria near the Czech border, Czech Republic, Poland, Western Ukraine, Byelorussia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia (northwards to Tallin City), Western Russia (Kaliningrad Province), Denmark and Sweden. Bufo calamita inhabits mainly open, well-warmed landscapes with light, sandy soils. There it lives in sand dunes, glades of pine forests, gardens, parks, fields, sand and gravel quarries and meadows. In the daytime it hides in heaps of stones, in sandy soil and under debris. Reproduction takes place in shallow, well-warmed ponds, puddles and ditches, including those with admixture of salt water on the shore of the Baltic Sea.
Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
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Populations are not usually very large. However, in some places the density reaches 200 individuals per hectare. The populations sometimes reach high densities in agricultural landscapes. For example, in the fields of central Byelorussia 7 specimens per 10 m2 have been censused. Hibernation occurs from September - October to March - May in the same sites where it hides in summer. Otherwise, the toad buries itself in the soil. Reproduction occurs in different months, in dependence on the latitude. Breeding choruses reach maximum intensity in the evening. The mating call differs from that in the Green Toad (B. viridis). Amplexus is pectoral. The clutch contains 2800-4000 eggs deposited in two strings of 1-2 m length. Metamorphosis occurs usually in summer, but cases of larval overwintering are known. The mass appearance of newly metamorphosed toadlets is typical. Adult age may attain 17 years. The diet consists mainly of crawling invertebrates (ants, beetles etc.); mirmecophagy is typical, like in other congeneric species.
Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
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Many populations of this species are decline because of anthropogenic pressure, primarily alteration of its specialized habitats: afforestation of heathlands and their reclamation for agriculture, acidification of breeding ponds due to polluted rains, use of coastal dunes for holiday industry. There have been some translocation projects for Bufo calamita in the UK. The translocation projects show signs of sucess. This was a result of coupling the reintroduction effort with large scale habitat restoration and maintenance effort.
Relation to Humans
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Negative effects of habitat alteration by humans on the toad populations were indicated above. However, in some places (e.g., in Byelorussia) its number increases in some agricultural lands where the toads can be seen breeding in catchment ponds. The toad does not avoid anthropogenic landscapes, but usually its abundance there is not high.
Biology
provided by Arkive
Natterjack toads emerge from hibernation later than frogs and common toads. Depending on the weather this can be as early as March and as late as June. The males make their surprisingly loud croaking call in the afternoon and evening and often after rain. Shortly after emerging they begin their breeding cycle. Mating takes place in sun-warmed ponds and then males and females leave the water separately. Spawning occurs in shallow water, each female producing from 1500 to 7500 eggs. These hatch in about a week and the tadpoles take a further 3 - 8 weeks to metamorphose into toadlets.
Adults retreat into burrows during warm weather and emerge at night to feed on moths, woodlice and other insects. Along their coastal range, they have been known to follow the strand-line to find food such as sandhoppers and other marine invertebrates.
Hibernation takes place in burrows, usually excavated by the toad, but they are known to use the burrows of other animals such as rabbits, rodents and even sand martins.
Conservation
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The natterjack toad is the subject of a Biodiversity Species Action Plan and most of their UK sites are now protected, some as nature reserves. Through English Nature's Species Recovery Programme, work has focused on maintaining suitable ponds and, where possible, constructing new ones. New ponds must share the characteristics of naturally occurring ones. They must be shallow in order to warm up swiftly during the day and have gently sloping sides to enable the adults and toadlets to climb out. Re-introduction programmes have also begun in order to conserve this unusual amphibian. Natterjack toads are fully protected by law in the UK and it is illegal to capture, kill, disturb of injure the animals or to destroy or damage their breeding sites or resting places.
Description
provided by Arkive
The chief distinguishing feature of the natterjack is the yellow stripe down its back. Shorter hind legs also tell the natterjack toad apart from the common toad and it has a tendency to run instead of hopping or walking, which is why it is sometimes called the running toad.
Habitat
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This species is confined to places characterised by light, sandy soils and warm, shallow ponds, often near the coast. Sand dune systems, salt marshes and lowland heathland are its main habitat types.
Range
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Natterjack toads are found across much of western Europe. Britain marks the western edge of its range but they have never been widespread. In the UK the largest concentration of populations is in the north-west coast of England with other colonies found in East Anglia, Dorset, Hampshire, Surrey and Staffordshire, the Solway coast and North Wales. Natterjacks also occur in south-west Ireland where it is the only native toad.
Status
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Endangered in the UK. Fully protected by schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981, listed under Appendix II of the Bern Convention and Annex IV of the EC Habitats Directive.
Threats
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Natterjack toads have never been common in the UK and loss of their heathland and sand dune habitats and the drying up of suitable ponds has contributed to their decline. The toad is now severely threatened across much of its European range.
Brief Summary
provided by Ecomare
During the hottest part of the day, British toads protect themselves from dehydration by burrowing themselves 10 centimeters deep in dune sand. As long as there is water in the area for reproduction, they are found on warm, open, sandy terrain just about all over the Netherlands. They also lay their eggs in brackish water. This makes the dune regions along the coast and the islands a very suitable environment for this species. British toads are fast jumpers and good climbers. They eat insects. Their melodious call can be heard on warm spring evenings.
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Natterjack toad
provided by wikipedia EN
The natterjack toad (Epidalea calamita) is a toad native to sandy and heathland areas of Europe. Adults are 60–70 mm in length, and are distinguished from common toads by a yellow line down the middle of the back and parallel paratoid glands. They have relatively short legs, which gives them a distinctive gait, contrasting with the hopping movement of many other toad species.
Natterjacks have a very loud and distinctive mating call amplified by the single vocal sac found under the chin of the male.
Life history
A slightly older natterjack, though still not fully grown
Natterjacks live for up to 15 years, and feed mainly on insects, especially beetles. At night, they move around open terrain with sparse vegetation, and their tracks can often be seen in loose sand. They move considerable distances each night, enabling the species to colonize new habitats very quickly.
Reproduction
The natterjack toad spawns between the end of April and July, laying strings of eggs in shallow, warm pools. Because the natterjack toad is often present in low numbers, its loud mating calls are important so that the sexes can find each other.
For natterjacks, pools need to have a very slight slope with sparse vegetation on the banks and in the water. As such pools are often temporary, sometimes the tadpoles die when the pools dry out. The natterjack compensates for that risk by mating over an extended period each summer. Thus, in September, the age of the juveniles can vary from one to three months. Early breeders seldom breed again later in the season, though some females do spawn twice in a year.
Distribution
Populations of the natterjack extend through 17 European countries.[2] In the UK, the toad is now almost completely confined to coastal sites. The natterjack is the only species of toad native to Ireland. It is found in County Kerry (Dingle Peninsula and Derrynane) and also in County Wexford, where it was introduced to a dune site.[2][3]
In mainland Europe, particularly in the southern part of its range, it lives inland in a variety of habitats.
Conservation
UK
In the UK, the threatened status of the species resulted in a national Biodiversity Action Plan designating it as one of three protected amphibians. Reasons for its threatened status include:
In England, the toad's sand dune habitat is protected by a number of national nature reserves. For example, in the north-west, reserves are at Hoylake, Ainsdale Sand Dunes,[4] North Walney and Sandscale Haws. In Scotland, where the species is confined to the Solway Firth, a reserve is at Caerlaverock. In Wales, the species became extinct in the 20th century, but has been reintroduced as part of the Biodiversity Action Plan.[5]
Ireland
To reverse habitat loss, the National Parks and Wildlife Service has created ponds for the species with some funding from the Heritage Council.[2] The natterjack is considered endangered in Ireland. As of July 2021, a project involving Fota Wildlife Park and the National Parks and Wildlife Service has released 6,000 toadlets into their natural range in County Kerry.[6]
References
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Natterjack toad: Brief Summary
provided by wikipedia EN
The natterjack toad (Epidalea calamita) is a toad native to sandy and heathland areas of Europe. Adults are 60–70 mm in length, and are distinguished from common toads by a yellow line down the middle of the back and parallel paratoid glands. They have relatively short legs, which gives them a distinctive gait, contrasting with the hopping movement of many other toad species.
Natterjacks have a very loud and distinctive mating call amplified by the single vocal sac found under the chin of the male.
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