Frog (Brittany) (1 Viewer)

Val35

Well-known member

• Mar 17, 2016

• #1

Hi, I took these pictures today in Brittany (France) are these Pelophylax kl. esculentus ?

http://www.hostingpics.net/viewer.php?id=561504DSCN0980.jpg

http://www.hostingpics.net/viewer.php?id=392339DSCN0976.jpg

 

Corvus cornix

Well-known member

• Mar 17, 2016

• #2

To me, the warty skin suggests a toad rather than a frog and the yellow stripe suggests Natterjack (Bufo calamita). I'm no expert and it's difficult to judge size accurately without something for scale. I'm certainly no expert and could be wrong, but that's my guess.

Cheers

 

Torchepot

Well-known member

• Mar 17, 2016

• #3

Hi Val

Looking in the Collins guide both edible and pool frog occur in your area, pretty hard to separate it seems. According to the text, edible is often bigger and has longer legs, there's a lot of overlap with other identification features. I didn't know that edible frog is a hybrid between pool frog and marsh frog.

 

Val35

Well-known member

• Mar 18, 2016

• #4

Hi,
We do not have anymore "pure" Pool Frogs in Brittany so I guess they are Edible Frogs, looking up on the web I found a picture of a similar looking one :
The skin is not warty enough for Natterjack and on the first picture we can see stripes on the hind legs.
Thanks for your help |:d|

 

Attachments

• 
  Pelophylax_kl._esculentus.jpg

  738.4 KB · Views: 47

Torchepot

Well-known member

• Mar 18, 2016

• #5

Hi

One thing I noticed is how small the eardrum is on your frog - smaller than the eye. The pics of edible seem to show larger eardrums but I can't find any mention of it one way or another. Maybe just a regional variation?

Do you get fire salamanders where you are? Sadly our most common road casualty here - of any vertebrate :-C

 

Val35

Well-known member

• Mar 18, 2016

• #6

Since Edible Frogs are hybrids there might be lot of variations from an individual to another.
Yes we do get Fire Salamanders (and five species of Newts), I take part in "roadkill surveys" around Rennes and they are indeed the most common species found on the road (along with Common Toad)...Also found some Salamander larvae in a small pond last week.

 

Torchepot

Well-known member

• Mar 18, 2016

• #7

Working on the principle that "no newts is good newts" I try to avoid them!

Five species is being really greedy though - what's the fifth? I can only think of Common, Palmate, Great Crested and Alpine?

Round here there are marbled and palmate but I've never seen marbled - they look little crackers though.

If you're interested here's a really useful site for Limousin and Auvergne.
http://www.fauneflore-massifcentral.fr/

 

Val35

Well-known member

• Mar 19, 2016

• #8

The fifth species is Marbled Newt, thanks for the link by the way : very nice pics and good ID keys (especially the one for Orthoptera).