Species profile

Common toad

Bufo bufo (Linnaeus, 1758)

How we detect Common toad

Occurrence density

Where Common toad has been recorded

Aggregated occurrence records across its known range.

The common toad, also known as European toad or simply the toad in Anglophone parts of Europe, is a toad found throughout most of Europe, 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.