Add Animal
    Mammals
    Mammals Birds Amphibians Reptiles Animals Ray-finned fishes Myxini – Hagfishes Petromyz' – Lampreys Sharks & rays Holocep' – Chimaeras Dipneusti – Lungfish Coelac' – Coelacanths Insecta – Insects / bugs Gastropoda – Snails & slugs Cephalopoda – Squids & octopuses Arachnida – Spiders, scorpions & allies Malacostraca – Malacostracans Diplopoda – Millipedes Bivalvia – Marine molluscs Chilopoda – Centipedes Pycnogonida – Sea spiders Merostomata – Horseshoe crabs More Classes
    Filters

    Regions

    See AllSelect

    Habitat

    See AllSelect

    Pelobates – European spadefoot toads

    Diggin into sandy soil, members of this genus spend much of their life in the ground

    While often referred to as a toad, the spadefoots are primitive frogs.

    As one of the most elusive and secretive of all the most common amphibians, the spadefoot toads live most of their life underground in a state of total seclusion. Spadefoots usually dig their burrows but are also known to use the burrows of other animals.

    They are adapted for dry environments and can decrease the water potential of their body fluids by accumulating urea in their plasma, such that they can reabsorb water from any soil with a higher water potential. They only emerge from the ground during periods of rain to breed.