Bufo verrucosissimus (Pallas, 1814)

Common Names

Caucasus Toad (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 44).

Caucasian Common Toad (Tuniyev, 1999, Adv. Amph. Res. Former Soviet Union, 3: 51).

Caucasian Toad (Kuzmin, 1999, Amph. Former Soviet Union: 238; Tarkhnishvili and Gokhelashvili, 1999, Adv. Amph. Res. Former Soviet Union, 4: v).

Distribution

Western part of Caucasus Mountains of southern Russia, Georgia, northern Azerbaijan, and extending into northeastern Türkiye (Artvin Province); isolated population on Strizhament Mountain and forests in the middle part of of Kuban River Valley from stanitsa Barsukovskaya to stanitsa Uspenskaya, Russia; southern coastal region of Türkiye from eastern Antalya Province in isolated populations into western coastal Syria and Lebanon.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Azerbaijan, Georgia, Lebanon, Russia, Syria, Türkiye

Comment

Borkin, 1987, Trudy Zool. Inst. Akad. Nauk SSSR, Leningrad, 158: 47–58, first suggested that Bufo verrucosissimus is a distinct species from Bufo bufo, but he did not make the change. See Orlova and Tuniyev, 1989, Byull. Mosk. Obshch. Ispyt. Prirody, 94: 13–24, for subspecies and taxonomic discussion. See Kuzmin, 1999, Amph. Former Soviet Union: 238–245, who noted that Bufo verrucosissimus verrucosissimus and Bufo verrucosissimus circassicus met in a narrow hybrid zone. Kuzmin, 2013, Amph. Former Soviet Union, Ed. 2: 139–143, provided an account for the former USSR. Litvinchuk, Borkin, Skorinov, and Rosanov, 2008, Russ. J. Herpetol., 15: 19–43, rejected subspecies. Tosunoglu and Taskavak, 2001, Ital. J. Zool., 68: 165–168, considered specimens from Türkiye as Bufo bufo verrucosissimus and not distinguishable immunologically from Bufo bufo spinosus. Tuniyev, 1999, Adv. Amph. Res. Former Soviet Union, 3: 51–52, discussed the taxonomic history of this species as well as geographic variation. Baloutch and Kami, 1995, Amph. Iran: 128–130, provided an account (as Bufo bufo verrucosissima) for Iran. See comments under Bufo bufo. Litvinchuk, Borkin, Skorinov, and Rosanov, 2008, Russ. J. Herpetol., 15: 19–43, redelimited that species range by including western Turkish populations formerly referred to Bufo bufo spinosus (now assigned to Bufo bufo). Recuero, Canestrelli, Vörös, Szabó, Poyarkov, Arntzen, Crnobrnja-Isailovic, Kidov, Cogǎlniceanu, Caputo, Nascetti, and Martínez-Solano, 2012, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 62: 71–86, reported on the molecular phylogenetics and phylogeography of the species. Arntzen, Recuero, Canestrelli, and Martínez-Solano, 2013, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 69: 1203–1208, discussed the phylogenetics and species taxonomy of this and near relatives and conclused that Bufo verrucosissimus is a distinct species. See comments under Bufo bufo and Bufo spinosus for additional relevant comments. Nöllert, Grosse, Buschendorf, and Geiger, 2016, Mertensiella, 24: 7–32, summarized and discussed the taxonomic history of this species and its recognition within the Bufo bufo group and provided a range map. On the basis of mtDNA analysis, Jablonski and Sadek, 2019, Herpetozoa, Wien, 32: 255–258, assigned the populations of Syria and Lebanon to this species. See Dufresnes, 2019, Amph. Eur., N. Afr., & Middle East: 75, for brief summary of identifying morphology and biology, a range map (seemingly excluding the northern and southern coasts of Türkiye as well as Lebanon and Syria), as well as a photograph. Özdemir, Dursun, Üzüm, Kutrup, and Gül, 2020, Amphibia-Reptilia, 41: 399–411, reported on distribution within Türkiye on the basis of mt and nu DNA markers as well as morphology. Older records from southern Azerbaijan and northern Iran now assigned to Bufo eichwaldi. Gasimova, 2021, Biharean Biol., 15: 112–116, discussed the range in Azerbaijan, and provided a dot map. Yaşar, Çiçek, Mulder, and Tok, 2021, North-West. J. Zool., Romania, 17(e201512): 232–275, discussed and grid-mapped the range in Türkiye. Dursun and Özdemir, 2022, Phyllomedusa, 21: 31–49, reported on morphological variability (external body traits, coloration patterns and skin structure) and age structure in a population from the vicinity of Artvin on the northeastern border of Türkiye and Georgia. Dursun, Özdemir, and Gül, 2023, Genetica, 151: 11–27, discussed  on the basis of molecular and morphometric data the contact zone with Bufo bufo in northeastern Türkiye. Gül, Dursun, Kutrup, Üzüm, and Özdemir, 2023, Animal Biol., 73: 213–223, provided niche models and dot maps for the distribution of Bufo verrucosissimus and Bufo bufo in Türkiye, the Levant, and the Caucusus region. Dursun, Sánchez-Montes, Özdemir, Gül, and Martínez-Solano, 2023, Amphibia-Reptilia, 44: 441–455, reported on the genetics of the hybrid zone with Bufo bufo in Rize Province, northeastern Türkiye. Kidov and Ivolga, 2023, Curr. Stud. Herpetol., Saratov, 23: 52–57, provided new records from the North Caucasus region, Russia. Lotiev, Telpov, Doronin, Yufereva, Klenina, and Popova, 2024, Curr. Stud. Herpetol., Saratov, 24: 66–73, reported on conservation status in the Caspian Basin of Stravropol, Russia. See Aidek, Jablonski, Dufresnes, Salimeh, and Omran, 2025, In Heatwole, Das, and King (eds.), Amphibian Biology. Volume 11, Part 8 (Status of Conservation and Decline of Amphibians: Eastern Hemisphere): 6–7, for photographs, distribution, and dot map for Syria.

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• For related information on conservation and images as well as observations see iNaturalist