Syrian Spadefoot

The eastern spadefoot is a plump toad with a large head with a flat topped skull, large, protruding eyes and vertical slit-like pupils. It can grow to a length of about 9 centimetres (3.5 in). The skin is smooth with a scattering of small warts. The male has a large gland at the back of his fore legs which becomes enlarged in the breeding season. The front foot has four toes and the back foot has five with deeply indented webbing between them. The hind legs are short and at the back of each hind foot is a yellowish bony protuberance, the inner metatarsal tubercle or spade, that gives the animal its name. The colour of the frog is quite variable, the back often being pale grey with large, greenish, irregularly shaped blotches and the belly being pale grey. The eastern spadefoot can be distinguished from the western spadefoot (Pelobates cultripes) by the colour of the spade which is black in the latter, and from the common spadefoot (Pelobates fuscus) by the fact that its head is not domed.

The eastern spadefoot is native to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria?, Georgia, Greece?, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Russian Federation, Syria and Turkey. It is quite common in Iran but is uncommon over much of its range. It is thought to be extinct in Jordan and its status is unclear in Iraq. Research led by the Palestine Museum of Natural History found it in the West Bank at Wadi Qana.