African Bouncing Toad

[JeffX]

I just picked up one of these last night. Interesting little guy. He's already calling and it's a deep call in the middle of the night. Information on these guys is kind of scarce though.

[John]

Interesting looking fellow you have there Jeff. What is the scientific name for him?

[JeffX]

Bufo Bufo is all I can find. I picked him up at Petco last night, and they didn't have anything on there.

[John]

Bufo bufo is the European Common Toad. That's not what you have there. It is something else.

[JeffX]

Bufo Regularis is what Petco just said. I'm doing some more research and those are sometimes listed as Egyptian Toads.

[tgampper]

It looks like Bufo regularis. The toad's natural range is western Africa to eastern Africa and north to Egypt. In east Africa, it is known as the Common Toad. Females reach 120 mm, males 90 mm. There are glands under the forearm that form a distinct row of pale tubercles. The parotid glands are large and without warts (smooth). The back markings are arranged in pairs, outlined in darker brown, with small white spots on the back. A pale cross on top of head, with a transverse bar running between the eyes. A vertebral line may be present and red patches in groin area (breeding age). The belly is white. Breeding males have a dark throat and a single, pale vocal sac. Also, the tympanum is large reaching 1.5 times diameter of eye.

The toad is found in the savanna and farmbush. They occur in very dry areas where a permanent water source is available. The call is a very slow snore, similar to pig grunts.

The toad is closely related to B. garmani, B. gutturalis, B. maculatus and B. xeros.

[JeffX]

So far it's settled in fairly nicely. Now that it's starting to call, it has set off my African Bullfrog as well. Both have been trading calls in the middle of the night.

[tgampper]

Glad your toad is settling in nicely.