This article is all about the resident Frogs and Toads in the British Isles.
Common Frog (Rana temporaria)
Family: Ranidae
The Common Frog is possibly the most familiar amphibian in the British Isles. Its smooth skin is generally brown but can vary, as it can adapt its color to blend in with its environment. It features long back legs and partially webbed feet, which enable it to hop on land and swim underwater.
As with many of our frogs, they possess the ability to breathe through their skin and can stay submerged underwater, even when they hibernate. Common Frogs are native and are found throughout the British Isles except some of the Northern Isles.
Common Toad (Bufo bufo)
Family: Bufonidae
The Common Toad is another native amphibian. They can be found across the British Isles except higher ground, the Scottish Isles, and Northern Ireland.
Compared to the Common Frog, their skin is drier and warty. This allows them to inhabit drier habitats than their frog counterparts. The Common Toad has olive-brown skin. Their heads are broad with wide mouths, and very bulbous-looking eyes. They have rather attractive horizontal slit pupils framed by copper irises. Apart from the warty skin, one of the best differentiators to tell whether you are looking at a Common Frog or a Common Toad is that toads have two bulbous patches behind their eyes called parotid glands. These contain bufotoxin, a foul substance excreted by the toad to deter would-be predators. Additionally, the Common Toad has shorter legs, and therefore can only really walk along, albeit they can still hop, but only about the distance of their bodies.
Natterjack Toad (Epidalea calamita)
Family: Bufonidae
Natterjacks have become one of the rarer species in the UK with significant declines over the past decades due to habitat loss and fragmentation. Consequently, they are now a protected species.
You are likely to hear Natterjacks before you see them. Particularly in the Spring when males are trying to attract females. Their raspy calls can be heard up to a mile away!
The Natterjack Toad is smaller than a Common Toad and has a distinctive yellow stripe running down their back. Like their cousin, they also have dry warty skin and short legs; meaning they also walk as opposed to hop.
They can be found in Scotland, East Anglia, Surrey, Hampshire, & the North-West of England.
Northern Clade Pool Frog (Pelophylax lessonae)
Family: Ranidae
Our final native species of Frog and Toad is the Northern Clade Pool Frog. Their name is a bit of a mouthful, so they are more often called Pool Frogs. The species went into rapid decline and became extinct in the British Isles in the 1990s. Conservation efforts led to a reintroduction of Pool Frogs from Sweden, and there is now a small population again in Norfolk.
They are smaller in size than the Common Frog but similar in appearance. Distinguished by their longer legs and more pointed heads. They sometimes have a green or yellow stripe running along their backs.
Marsh Frog (Pelophylax ribibundus)
Family: Ranidae
Now let’s take a look at our non-native Frogs and Toads. Starting with the Marsh Frog. Marsh Frogs can be found extensively across Europe but only became resident in the UK in the 20th century after being introduced in Kent into a garden pond. Their range has subsequently expanded particularly across the south of the UK.
Their name is apt, as Marsh Frogs prefer to inhabit marshy environments. Marsh Frogs are quite large amphibians, approximately 50% larger than the resident Common Frog. Their color ranges from olive to bright green, with irregular dark blotches across their upper parts. They sometimes have a green or yellow line running down the center of their backs, and their underparts are creamy white. They have rounded snouts, and also quite warty-looking skin.
Midwife Toad (Alytes obstetricans)
Family: Alytidae
The Midwife Toad is also known as the Bell Toad due to its bell-like call. Midwife Toads are a small species only reaching about 5cm in length. They have the typical warty skin of toads and are generally dull-grey in color. Occasionally however they can be found with green or brown skin. The name Midwife Toad refers to the unusual behavior of the male. After fertilizing the eggs of the female, he wraps them around his hind legs and then carries them around until they hatch.
First introduced into Bedfordshire, and is thought this occurred in a shipment of plants from Western Europe. It’s unknown how far their range has expanded, but their effect on the native habitat seems limited.
Edible Frog (Pelophylax esculentus)
Family: Ranidae
The Edible Frog is named literally, as it’s eaten in certain European countries including France, Belgium, and Italy. Edible Frogs are a hybrid of the Marsh Frog and the Pool frog and reproduce through the unusual method of hybridogenesis, whereby one of the parental genomes is selectively transmitted & the other is renewed by mating with the corresponding species.
As a hybrid, they have variable appearance, though they are typically green or brown on their backs with dark spots, and a yellow or green stripe along their back. Their underparts are white or light-grey.
First introduced into the South of England, their range has spread into East Anglia.
African Clawed Toad (Xenopus laevis)
Family: Pipidae
The African Clawed Toad was brought to the UK for use in laboratories on the Isle of Wight and South Wales. It was historically used as a pregnancy test, whereby doctors would send urine samples to labs for technicians to inject into the Toad. If the woman was pregnant, the frog would start to lay eggs within a few hours of being injected.
Escapees from labs have managed to establish themselves, though their range is thought to be limited to the Isle of Wight and South Wales.
They have small wedge-shaped heads with eyes located on top of their heads as opposed to the sides. Their bodies appear flat with smooth mottled olive-brown or grey-brown skin. Unusually for Toads, they are almost exclusively aquatic.
American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus)
Family: Ranidae
The Bullfrog is a highly invasive species introduced by pet owners releasing them into the wild. They grow up to 25cm in length. They have stout bodies, wide heads, and long hind legs. Their skin is smooth ranging from green and brown on their backs with dark spots. Their bellies range from white, grey, or yellow.
Due to its size, the Bullfrog is able to prey on other native amphibians and therefore out-compete them. They also carry harmful diseases that disrupt the natural ecosystem. Most conservationists agree that the Bullfrog should be eliminated from the British Isles.
REFERENCES
- Speybroeck, Jeroen, et al. Field Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Britain and Europe, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2016. ProQuest Ebook Central. [Accessed 12/04/2025]
- Amphibian Ecology and Conservation : A Handbook of Techniques, Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2009. ProQuest Ebook Central. [Accessed 12/04/2025]
- Dorcas, Mike, and Whit Gibbons. Frogs : The Animal Answer Guide, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central. [Accessed 12/04/2025]
