Common toad
Bufo bufo (Linnaeus, 1758)
LCLeast Concernfrogs and toads
The common toad (Bufo bufo) is an amphibian in the frogs and toads subgroup, belonging to the order Anura and the family Bufonidae. It is a small, nocturnal invertivore whose main foods are arthropods, and it uses aquatic and terrestrial microhabitats.
.jpg){kind=link}
Quick facts about the common toad
Adults have a representative body mass of 164.8 g and a body length of up to 15 cm, with a lifespan of up to 40 years. It lays eggs, with clutches of 5,332 to 10,000 eggs, develops through a larval stage, and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
- Weight
- 164.8 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- up to 15 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- up to 40 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- arthropodssrc for Main food
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- 5,332 – 10,000src for Young per litter or clutch
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the common toad
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
_molting_skin_02.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
Where does the common toad live?
Not recorded
What is the common toad?
The common toad, also known as European toad or simply the toad in Anglophone parts of Europe (Bufo bufo, from Latin bufo "toad"), is a toad found throughout most of Europe (excluding Iceland, Ireland, parts of Scandinavia, and some Mediterranean islands), western North Asia and a small part of Northwest Africa. It belongs to a group of closely related species descended from a common ancestral line of toads and forming a species complex. The toad is an inconspicuous animal, usually lying hidden during the day. It becomes active at dusk, hunting the invertebrates on which it feeds at night. It moves with a slow, ungainly walk or by jumping short distances, and has greyish-brown skin covered with wart-like lumps.
Although toads are usually solitary animals, large numbers of them converge on certain breeding ponds during the breeding season, where the males compete to mate with the females. The females lay their eggs in gelatinous strings in the water, which later hatch into tadpoles. After several months of growth and development, the tadpoles sprout limbs and undergo metamorphosis to become tiny toads. The juveniles then leave the water and remain largely terrestrial for the rest of their lives.
The common toad appears to be in decline in some areas, but is currently classified as being of "least concern" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is under threat due to habitat loss, particularly the drainage of its breeding grounds, and some toads are killed on roads during their annual migrations. The toad has long been associated with witchcraft in popular culture and literature.
From the Wikipedia article “Common toad” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Common_toad&oldid=1376663905), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the common toad sound like?
Is the common toad endangered?
The common toad is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the common toad classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAmphibia
- orderAnura
- familyBufonidae
- genusBufo
- SpeciesBufo bufo (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Batrachus buffo, Bombinator ventricosus, Bufavus meneghinii, Buffo strumosus, Buffo vulgaris, Bufo alpinus, Bufo bufo bufo, Bufo carbunculus, Bufo cinereus, Bufo cinereus hybridus, Bufo cinereus medius, Bufo cinereus minor, Bufo communis, Bufo commutatus, Bufo ferruginosus, Bufo minutus, Bufo palmarum, Bufo roeselii, Bufo rouselei, Bufo rubeta, Bufo spelaeus, Bufo tuberculosus, Bufo ventricosus, Bufo vulgaris, Bufo vulgaris acutirostris, Bufo vulgaris cinereus, Bufo vulgaris obtusirostris, Engystoma ventricosus, Pegaeus bufo, Phryne vulgaris, Rana acephala, Rana bufo, Rana pluvialis, Rana rubeta, Rana scorodesma, Rana ventricosa, Rana vulgaris
Other names and names in other languages (83)
- Common European toadEnglish
- European toadEnglish
- AljoumArabic
- علجوم شائعArabic
- Zapo comúnAragonese
- sapuAsturian
- Adi quru qurbağasıAzerbaijani
- BrotzBavarian
- Рапуха шэраяBelarusian
- Голяма крастава жабаBulgarian
- Кафява крастава жабаBulgarian
- Touseg boutinBreton
- SàputCatalan
- CalàpetCatalan
- Galapat (al Pallars)Catalan
- GalàpetCatalan
- Gripau comúCatalan
- Ropucha obecnáCzech
- ParchatnicaKashubian
- Llyffant DafadennogWelsh
- Llyffantod DafadennogWelsh
- SkrubtudseDanish
- ErdkröteGerman
- Pólna škrodawaLower Sorbian
- ΧωματόφρυνοςGreek
- Ordinara bufoEsperanto
- Sapo europeoSpanish
- sapo común europeoSpanish
- Harilik kärnkonnEstonian
- Apo arruntBasque
- بوفو بوفوPersian
- rupikonnaFinnish
- Crapaud communFrench
- Crapaud commun (Le)French
- Crapaud vulgaireFrench
- PodNorthern Frisian
- losgann dubhScottish Gaelic
- losgannan dubhaScottish Gaelic
- muile-mhàgachScottish Gaelic
- muileacha-màgachScottish Gaelic
- Sapo comúnGalician
- קרפדה מצויהHebrew
- Smeđa krastačaCroatian
- Pólna krokawaUpper Sorbian
- Barna varangyHungarian
- Rospo ComuneItalian
- ヨーロッパヒキガエルJapanese
- 두꺼비류Korean
- 유럽두꺼비Korean
- MoukLuxembourgish
- Pilkoji rupūžėLithuanian
- Parastais krupisLatvian
- Голема крастава жабаMacedonian
- Крастава жабаMacedonian
- Vanlig paddeNorwegian Bokmål
- nordpaddeNorwegian Bokmål
- Gewone padDutch
- Ropucha SzaraPolish
- Sapo-comumPortuguese
- sapo-comum-europeuPortuguese
- Sapo-europeuPortuguese
- Broasca râioasă brunăRomanian
- Broască râioasă brunăRomanian
- Серая жабаRussian
- Обыкновенная жабаRussian
- Obyknovennaya ZhabaRussian
- BuffaSicilian
- rihccecuoppuNorthern Sami
- ropucha bradavičnatáSlovak
- Navadna krastačaSlovenian
- ТhithlopaAlbanian
- Обична крастачаSerbian
- Obična krastačaSerbian
- vanlig paddaSwedish
- గోదురు కప్పTelugu
- Kara kurbağasıTurkish
- Siğilli KurbağaTurkish
- Ропуха сіраUkrainian
- Ропуха звичайнаUkrainian
- Bufo bufoVietnamese
- PaddeWest Flemish
- Geweune paddeWest Flemish
- 大蟾蜍Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the common toad
Other species in the same genus Bufo.
Miyako toad
Bufo gargarizans
Colchic toad
Bufo verrucosissimus
Talysh toad
Bufo eichwaldi
Bankor toad
Bufo bankorensis
Japanese stream toad
Bufo torrenticola
Water toad
Bufo stejnegeri
CompareCommon toad vs Miyako toadCommon toad vs Colchic toadCommon toad vs Talysh toadCommon toad vs Bankor toad
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the common toad?
The common toad is an amphibian in the frogs and toads subgroup. It belongs to the order Anura and the family Bufonidae.
How big is the common toad?
The common toad has a body length of up to 15 cm and a representative adult body mass of 164.8 g, which places it in the small size class.
What does the common toad eat?
The common toad is an invertivore whose main foods are arthropods. Its trophic level is carnivore.
Is the common toad endangered?
No. The common toad is listed as Least Concern (LC) in the global IUCN assessment, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the common toad live?
The common toad has a lifespan of up to 40 years.
How many eggs does the common toad lay?
The common toad lays clutches of 5,332 to 10,000 eggs, with a representative value of 7,666, and its young develop through a larval stage.
When is the common toad active?
The common toad is nocturnal. It uses aquatic and terrestrial microhabitats.
Who named the common toad?
The scientific name Bufo bufo carries the authority (Linnaeus, 1758).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Common toad (Bufo bufo). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/bufo-bufo
“Common toad (Bufo bufo).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/bufo-bufo.
@misc{bufo_bufo_2026,
title = {Common toad (Bufo bufo)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/bufo-bufo},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}