Bufo is a genus of in the family Bufonidae. As traditionally defined, it was a wastebasket genus containing a large number of toads from much of the world but following taxonomic reviews most of these have been moved to other genera, leaving only seventeen extant species from Europe, northern Africa and Asia in this genus, including the well-known common toad ( B. bufo).[ Some of the genera that contain species formerly placed in Bufo are Anaxyrus (many North American species), Bufotes (European green toad and relatives), Duttaphrynus (many Asian species, including the Asian common toad introduced elsewhere), Epidalea (natterjack toad) and Rhinella (many Latin American species, including the cane toad introduced elsewhere).]
Description
True toads have in common stocky figures and short legs, which make them relatively poor jumpers. Their dry skin is thick and "warty".
Behind their eyes, Bufo species have wart-like structures, the . These glands distinguish the true toads from all other Frog. They secrete a fatty, white poisonous substance which acts as a deterrent to predators. Contrary to folk belief, handling toads does not cause warts, however due to the poison they secrete, and bacteria on their skins, a person should wash their hands thoroughly after handling one.[ Penn State University - How safe is it to hold frogs and toads?] The poison of most if not all toads contains bufotoxin.
Species
Formerly, the genus Bufo encompassed many species and was divided into several subgenera. Frost et al. (2006) removed most of the species of former Bufo to other genera and restricted the name Bufo to members of the Bufo bufo group of earlier authors.[Pauly et al., (2009). Herpetologica 65:115-128.] Now, this genus has been reduced to 24 extant species:
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| Ailao toad |
| Andrew's toad |
| Spineless stream toad |
| Central Formosa toad, Bankor toad |
| Common toad, European toad |
| Earless toad |
| Eichwald's toad, Talysh toad |
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| Chusan Island toad, Asiatic toad |
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| Luchun stream toad |
| Menglian stream toad |
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| Tonkin toad |
| Japanese common toad, Japanese warty toad, Japanese toad |
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| Spiny toad, spiny common toad, giant toad |
| Korean water toad, Stejneger's toad, Korean toad, water toad |
| Tibetan toad |
| Qinghai Lake toad, round-warted toad |
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| Japanese stream toad, Honshū toad |
| Caucasian toad |
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Footnotes
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amphibiaweb.org - Bufo
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Blair (ed.), 1972, Evol. Genus Bufo.
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Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World
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(2004) The history of a Nearctic colonization: Molecular phylogenetics and biogeography of the Nearctic toads ( Bufo). Evolution 58: 2517–2535.
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(2009): Taxonomic freedom and the role of official lists of species names. Herpetologica 65: 115–128. PDF full-text
