Boettger's horned toad (''Boulenophrys boettgeri''), also known as Boettger's spadefoot toad or the pale-shouldered horned toad, is a species of

toad Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scient ...

found in southern and southeastern China (the northern border runs roughly from

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

in the west to Shanxi in the north and

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...

in the east) and north-eastern India (

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares ...

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Silig ...

, and

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

). A closely related but probably as yet undescribed species in found in

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

. The history of this species' discovery is highly international. It was described by George Albert Boulenger, a Belgian zoologist who made his career in the

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum an ...

. He named ''Boulenophrys boettgeri'' in honour of

Oskar Boettger Oskar Boettger (german: Böttger; 31 March 1844 – 25 September 1910) was a German zoologist who was a native of Frankfurt am Main. He was an uncle of the noted malacologist Caesar Rudolf Boettger (1888–1976). From 1863 to 1866 he studied at ...

, a German zoologist, based on specimens collected by Irish ornithologist J. D. La Touche in Guadun village in

Wuyishan, Fujian Wuyishan City () is a county-level city in the municipal region of Nanping, in the northwest of Fujian, People's Republic of China, which borders Jiangxi to the northwest. It corresponds to the former Chong'an County. Natural and cultural herita ...

, China. Male ''Boulenophrys boettgeri'' grow to a snout-vent length of about and females to . They are dark grey or brown above, with symmetrical blackish markings and smooth skin with small scattered warts on the head and back. ''Boulenophrys boettgeri'' is a reasonably common species associated with riparian vegetation, hill streams and leaf-litter in evergreen forest habitats. These frogs breed in streams. Tadpoles are in length.

References

Boulenophrys Frogs of India Amphibians of China Fauna of Hong Kong Amphibians described in 1899 {{Megophryidae-stub