The Mongolian toad (''Strauchbufo raddei''), also known commonly as the piebald toad or the Siberian sand toad, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 scientif ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Bufonidae {{Cat main, Toad This category contains both species commonly called toads, and the true toads from the family Bufonidae {{Cat main, Toad This category contains both species commonly called toads, and the true toads from the family Bufonidae {{Cat m ...

. The species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to northeastern Asia. It was formerly placed in the genus ''

Bufo ''Bufo'' is a genus of true toads in the amphibian family Bufonidae. As traditionally defined, it was a wastebasket genus containing a large number of toads from much of the world, but following taxonomic reviews most of these have been moved to ...

'', then for a few years in '' Pseudepidalea'' until finally moved to its own genus ''Strauchbufo''.

Etymology

The specific name, ''raddei'', is in honor of German naturalist

Gustav Radde Gustav Ferdinand Richard Radde (27 November 1831 – 2 March 1903) was a German natural history, naturalist and Siberian List of explorers, explorer. Radde's warbler and several other species are named after him. Biography Radde was born in Danzi ...

Geographic range

''S. raddei'' ranges through much of northern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

, and the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...

, and is also found in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

. It is particularly common in the

Amur River The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...

basin of China and Russia.

Description

The Mongolian toad is relatively small, with adults not exceeding a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of .

Habitat

''S. raddei'' ranges through a wide range of habitats and is often found in dry regions, preferring sandy soil. It was first described based on specimens from the Alashan desert. The species does not occur above , nor below . The northernmost population is found on

Olkhon Island Olkhon ( rus, Ольхо́н, also transliterated as Olchon; bua, Ойхон, ''Oikhon'') is the third-largest lake island in the world. It is by far the largest island in Lake Baikal in eastern Siberia, with an area of . Structurally, it const ...

in Russia's

Lake Baikal Lake Baikal (, russian: Oзеро Байкал, Ozero Baykal ); mn, Байгал нуур, Baigal nuur) is a rift lake in Russia. It is situated in southern Siberia, between the federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...

Reproduction

The mating season of ''S. raddei'' occurs between March and July, depending on the local climate. Eggs are typically laid in shallow puddles, leading to the death of many tadpoles as the puddles dry up. The Mongolian toad hibernates in the ground, usually in groups, in holes up to deep.

Diet

When adult, the Mongolian toad favours ants as food, particularly in arid regions. It also eats spiders and beetles.

Taxonomy

The Mongolian toad was classified as ''

raddei'' prior to the 2006 definition of the genus ''Pseudepidalea''. (''Pseudepidalea raddei'', new combination). In 2010, it was shown that ''Pseudepidalea'' is a

junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...

of ''

Bufotes ''Bufotes'', the Eurasian green toads or Palearctic green toads, is a genus of true toads (family Bufonidae). They are native to Europe (absent from the British Isles, most of Fennoscandia, most of France and the Iberian Peninsula), western an ...

''. The divergent Mongolian toad was moved to its own genus ''Strauchbufo'' in 2012.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1038983 Bufonidae Amphibians of China Amphibians of Korea Amphibians of Mongolia Amphibians of Russia Amphibians described in 1842