Mesobatrachia

Spadefoot, horned, parsley, tongueless, and burrowing toads belong to six families in the suborder Mesobatrachia. Some of these species like the horned toads make very loud "clanks" with their vocal sacs.

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Amphibia

Order: Anura

Family: Various (see below)

Genus: Various (see below)

Species: Various (see below)

This group includes some frogs and some toads. When they were discovered, there were major differences between frogs and toad species. The common frog or grass frog (Rana temporaria) was moist and slimy and hopped from place to place, while the common or European toad (Bufo bufo) was dry and warty and moved by walking. As more frog-and-toad-like creatures were discovered, scientists classified them according to which animal, frog or toad, they more closely resembled.

Spadefoot, horned, parsley, tongueless, and burrowing toads and frogs may be green, brown, yellow, or gray in their basic skin color. These colors often blend and create a marbled appearance. These toads are all generally plump and round with short limbs and vertically elliptical pupils. Pupils are the black areas in the center of the eyes that open and close to let in light. Vertically elliptical means the black areas run vertically, or up and down, and are elliptical, or in the shape of an ellipse. An ellipse in this situation is a narrow, long, oval shape. Cats and snakes also have vertically elliptical eyes. Spadefoot toads are called spadefoot for their sharp spade-shaped hind feet. Horned toads are named for their flexible horn-like projections above their eyes. Parsley frogs are named for their appearance of being covered with tiny pieces of parsley. All these toads, grow to be between 1 1/2 and 4 inches (4 and 10 centimeters) long. All these frogs and toads have long hind limbs and shorter forelimbs. This construction helps them to jump and leap from place to place. Their bent hind limbs enable them to spring their bodies when they move.

Like other amphibians, spadefoot, horned, parsley, tongueless, and burrowing toads and frogs are cold-blooded. This means their body temperatures are the same as the temperatures of their surroundings.

These toads and frogs live in various locations. Spadefoot toads are nocturnal, or night-active, and live in the dry, sandy soils of North America, Europe, and Asia. Horned toads are diurnal, or day-active, and generally dwell on and under the ground only in Southeast Asia. Parsley frogs are terrestrial, or ground-dwelling, amphibians but live only in Europe.

All these toads and frogs are carnivorous, or meat-eating, animals as adults. Their diets include insects and spiders. As tadpoles, most only eat algae. Snakes, birds, and larger, desert-dwelling toads commonly prey on this group of amphibians.

Mating season for spadefoot, horned, parsley, tongueless, and burrowing toads and frogs occurs in spring. The females lay their strands of eggs in water around the stems of water plants. The eggs have an incubation period, or development period, between one and two months. After hatching, the young toads spend about 20 days as tadpoles. During this time, they experience a change, called a metamorphosis. In this change, they develop from aquatic, or water-living, creatures into adults. Some large, desert-dwelling spadefoot tadpoles develop larger, stronger teeth than some algae-eating tadpoles. These larger-toothed tadpoles become cannibalistic and eat the smaller, algae-eating tadpoles. Cannibalistic means to eat one's kind. If there is a lot of rainfall when the young tadpoles are born, the herbivorous, or plant-eating, tadpoles have the best chance of surviving. If there is little rainfall, the herbivorous tadpoles are often eaten by the larger-toothed cannibals.

Of the six families, the Rhinophrynidae family comprises a single species, the Mexican burrowing toad (Rhinophrynus dorsalis). This 3 inches (8 centimeters) toad lives in tropical and subtropical forests of North and South America, usually underground. Like spadefoot toads, their hind feet have horns they use to dig into the ground. If frightened, its body inflates, or blows up, like a balloon.

The five parsley frogs belong to the single genus Pelodytes in the Pelodytidae family. Most parsley frogs are around 2 inches (5 centimeters) long and have smooth green or brown skin. They lack the hard horns on their hind legs that other species in the Mesobatrachia group have. They live in Europe and western Asia.

The European spadefoot toads of the Pelobatidae family live in Europe, Asia, and the Mediterranean, and the American spadefoot toads of the Scaphiopodidae family live in North America. They are around 4 inches (10 centimeters) long and use their back legs to burrow into the sand.

Spadefoot, horned, parsley, tonguless, and burrowing toads and frogs have a life span of up to 10 years.

Species include:

Caucasian parsley frog Pelodytes caucasicus

Couch's spadefoot Scaphiopus couchii

Common spadefoot Pelobates fuscus

Common parsley frog Pelodytes punctatus

Eastern spadefoot Scaphiopus holbrookii

Great Basin spadefoot toad Spea intermontana

Hesperides' parsley frog Pelodytes hespericus

Iberian parsley frog Pelodytes ibericus

Lusitanian parsley frog Pelodytes atlanticus

Moroccan spadefoot toad Pelobates varaldii

New Mexico spadefoot toad Spea multiplicata

Pallas' Spadefoot Toad Pelobates vespertinus

Western spadefoot toad Pelobates cultripes

Bibliography

Beaudry, Brenda. "Rhinophrynus Dorsalis." Animal Diversity Web, animaldiversity.org/accounts/Rhinophrynus‗dorsalis. Accessed 15 May 2024.

"Pelodytidae - Parsley Frogs." PBS, nhpbs.org/wild/pelodytidae.asp. Accessed 15 May 2024.

"Spadefoot Toad." A-Z Animals, 27 Feb. 2023, a-z-animals.com/animals/spadefoot-toad. Accessed 15 May 2024.