Common Name: Common Spadefoot Toad or Garlic Toad
Scientific Name: Pelobates fuscus
Family: Pelobatidae – European Spadefoot Toad family
Location: Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and Ukraine
Female Size: 3.1 inches (7.8 mm)
Male Size: 2.6 inches (6.6 mm)
The Common Spadefoot Toad is a fossorial species, spending most of their time underground in its or other animals burrows.
There are two subspecies of the Common Spadefoot Toad – P. fuscus fuscus and P. fuscus insubricus. P. fuscus insubricus is found in Northern Italy while the other subspecies is found in central Europe.
They are nicknamed the Garlic Toad because when they are threatened, they release a secretion that smells like garlic.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assess the Common Spadefoot Toad as Least Concern for Extinction. They have a massive range and a presumed large population.