Female Common Toad (3B Scientific)

[brontodocus]

Walk-around of the 3B Scientific VN708/2 female Common or European Toad, Bufo bufo (Linnaeus, 1758). Snout-vent length is 72.5 mm which makes it life size (like all 3B Scientific amphibians and reptiles replicas) although occasionally old females can grow to nearly twice this size (the Mediterranean Toad which was long considered a subspecies of the Common Toad gets even larger but is now usually regarded as a separate species, B. spinosus). It is one of the most common and widely distributed amphibians in Europe, Northern Africa, and Russia, ranging from Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula in the South West to Finland in the North (up to 68°N) and Irkutsk near Lake Baikal (Russia) in the East. Despite being locally threatened it is still a common species in most parts throughout its range and IUCN lists it as "Least Concern". One of the main threats for these toads is actually roadkill in early spring when males and females migrate to their breeding grounds. While 3B Scientific doesn't seem to be capable to correctly reproduce the colour patterns of some other amphibians and reptiles, e.g. the Common Midwife Toad, Alytes obstetricans, the rather simple and dull colouration of the Common Toad seems to be well-represented here. I've been nit-picking on 3B Scientific before and I will continue to do so because since it's a company specialising in scientific and educational supply we can assume they do their homework and should exceed toy companies in quality. A (supposedly slightly smaller) male specimen is also available as item No. VN708/1. The female usually retails for around €60-65 or $85-90 but I was lucky to get this for a much lower discount price.
















For comparison here is a shot of a large female I photographed in spring 2012 in nature reserve "NSG Mastberg und Weissenstein", Hagen, Germany (I have a permission to catch and release animals there during field trips from our university, usually it's not allowed to disturb any animals in a German nature reserve).


Edit 2017-02-05: Fixed broken image urls.

[Takama]

AH common Toads. There the most common Night crawler in my home town. Every night i go for a walk during the summer, i can here them singing to each other an some make really low pitched crokes. i always tel myself self to get a Jar, and see how many of the little creatures i could catch. but i never bring myself to do so.

For a scientific model, it looks a little too obvious that its painted to me.

[brontodocus]

AH common Toads. There the most common Night crawler in my home town. Every night i go for a walk during the summer, i can here them singing to each other an some make really low pitched crokes. i always tel myself self to get a Jar, and see how many of the little creatures i could catch. but i never bring myself to do so.

For a scientific model, it looks a little too obvious that its painted to me.

Thanks, Nathan! Yes, for a supplier of scientific models the paint job could have been done a lot better. This is not the same as the common American Toad, Anaxyrus americanus, by the way (though superficially similar). Bufo bufo would not be present in the United States.

[Takama]

Oh, so we have different species then.   Well ours and yours look similar, that a layman like me cant tell the difference .   And they are victims of Road kill here too. Though the reason is that when ever a light shines on them there instinct is to stay put.    Me an my dad took advantage of this one time and caught a few of them while they were standing in the light. However, there was another time, when i was just with my mom, and we were driving in the rain, and a whole swarm of Frogs were hopping across the road we were on. I begged her to stop so i can catch a few, but she just Drove over the poor things .

Nowadays the only time i see any Amphibians is when im on a walk, and i find the noisy little Toads in peoples yards. Since my dad past away i never been back to there natural habitat.   

[stargatedalek]

Sorry to hear that, it seems you have a lot of great memories with him.

They are indeed very similar to the species we get here, but ours are distinctively brighter in tone (more orange than brown), which seems to be something specific to our provincial population, since outside of Nova Scotia they tend to be more so brown in colour

is it just me or do the front legs seem a tad long?

[brontodocus]

I'm sorry to read that, too, Nathan. I have a nice story about the neighbours of my spouse's parents - they all live in a dead-end street near a forest and every year in March hundreds of Common Toads cross the street to reach their ponds for mating. The people, while not fond of toads, put up a self-made warning sign to watch out for toads crossing the road because the public services declined to do so.

Sorry to hear that, it seems you have a lot of great memories with him.

They are indeed very similar to the species we get here, but ours are distinctively brighter in tone (more orange than brown), which seems to be something specific to our provincial population, since outside of Nova Scotia they tend to be more so brown in colour

is it just me or do the front legs seem a tad long?

I guess if both species would share the same habitat they would be frequently confused with each other, they are indeed quite similar. I don't think the front legs are too long, it depends on the posture of the animal. Usually toads tuck their arms a little in and the chest touches the ground. The soft abdomen then protrudes to the sides and partially (or totally if it's a really fat anuran) conceals the upper arm (and the thigh). The photo of the living specimen shows that a large part of the upper arm is concealed. The model on the other hand has the chest lifted off the ground which makes the abdomen droop so it is less flat but narrower than when the shoulder girdle would touch the ground. Similarly, the front legs of the Kitan Club Japanese Toad (which represents a very closely related species) appear quite long, too, and this figure has its chest lifted up as well.

[stargatedalek]

I hadn't thought of that (*facepalms myself*), indeed that would make the legs appear longer or shorter

[Jetoar]

 One of the best replica of this specie. Sometimes I have seen it in the nature  .

[brontodocus]

One of the best replica of this specie. Sometimes I have seen it in the nature  .

Many thanks, Jetoar! Do you have regular Bufo bufo where you live, or do you have the larger, Mediterranean Toad, B. spinosus (they should both occur in Spain but I don't know the latter's exact range at the moment)?

[Jetoar]

One of the best replica of this specie. Sometimes I have seen it in the nature  .

Many thanks, Jetoar! Do you have regular Bufo bufo where you live, or do you have the larger, Mediterranean Toad, B. spinosus (they should both occur in Spain but I don't know the latter's exact range at the moment)?

I dont know very well if i have seen B. spinosus at my area, but this summmer I saw a of B. bufo with a total lenght of 200mm. I have photographs of this specimen  .

[brontodocus]

I dont know very well if i have seen B. spinosus at my area, but this summmer I saw a of B. bufo with a total lenght of 200mm. I have photographs of this specimen  .

Wow, congrats, Jetoar! At that size it must have been B. spinosus, the largest females of regular B. bufo never get even remotely near to 200 mm.

[Jetoar]

I dont know very well if i have seen B. spinosus at my area, but this summmer I saw a of B. bufo with a total lenght of 200mm. I have photographs of this specimen  .

Wow, congrats, Jetoar! At that size it must have been B. spinosus, the largest females of regular B. bufo never get even remotely near to 200 mm.

You are welcome Brontodocus, is good to know the correct specie  .

[brontodocus]

3B Scientific Female Common Toad photos are back!