Apennine yellow-bellied toad
| Apennine yellow-bellied toad | ||||||||||||
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Apennine yellow-bellied toad ( Bombina pachypus ) |
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| Bombina pachypus | ||||||||||||
| ( Bonaparte , 1838) |
The Apennine yellow-bellied toad or Italian yellow -bellied toad ( Bombina pachypus; alternatively: Bombina variegata pachypus ) belongs to the " primitive " family Bombinatoridae and to the genus of the toad within the order of the frog auger . The taxonomic status of this species, which was postulated in 1991 due to genetic differences, is controversial; some authors continue to or re-assign it as a subspecies of the yellow-bellied toad ( Bombina variegata ).
features
The animals largely correspond in size and appearance to the yellow-bellied toad. The males and females are correspondingly between 35 and 55 millimeters in size. The top is gray-brown, often with washed-out, lighter spots. The underside, including the insides of the limbs and fingers and toes, is gray-blue to black-blue with striking, light yellow to orange spots or areas that usually take up more than half of the underside. Similar to the yellow-bellied toad of the Balkans, the Apennine yellow-bellied toad tends to have large areas of continuous yellow or orange-colored belly areas.
distribution
While the distribution area of the yellow-bellied toad (nominate form) in Italy has its southern border around the level of the Po , only the Apennine yellow-bellied toad occurs south of it; so there are no areas in which both taxa are represented.
Danger
Due to the limited habitat and the way of life, the Apennine yellow-bellied toad must be assumed to be at risk from habitat destruction . Their protection status according to the Habitats Directive corresponds to that of the yellow-bellied toad.
Individual evidence
literature
- Dieter Glandt: Pocket dictionary of amphibians and reptiles in Europe. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2010. ISBN 978-3-494-01470-8
Web links
- Photos of the Apennine yellow-bellied toad on www.herp.it
- Bombina pachypus inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.1. Posted by: Franco Andreone, Claudia Corti, Roberto Sindaco, Antonio Romano, Filippo Giachi, Stefano Vanni, Giovanni Delfino, 2008. Retrieved October 13, 2013.