Bufo japonicus
Silhouette: Steven Traver · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The Japanese common toad, Japanese warty toad or Japanese toad (Bufo japonicus) is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to Japan. Its natural habitats are subarctic forests, temperate forests, temperate shrubland, swamps, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, freshwater springs, arable land, rural gardens, urban areas, ponds, and irrigated land. Amplexus is the mating behaviour involved in the Japanese common toad during the breeding season.
This species was originally first described as Bufo praetextatus in 1826. However, the specimen that is used to name it is lost, and since this name is used by only a few authors, it is considered that B. japonicus is valid instead.
There are two subspecies, Western-Japanese common toad (Bufo japonicus japonicus) and Eastern-Japanese common toad (Bufo japonicus formosus). They are distinguished by the size of the tympanum, smaller in B. japonicus japonicus and larger in B. japonicus formosus. However, some taxonomic authorities consider B. japonicus formosus to be a separate species (B. formosus), leaving B. japonicus monotypic (having no subspecies).
B. japonicus formosus is known to hybridise in... Wikipedia →
Recording0:24
Japan · 2025
© naturalist49784 · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikko National Park | 🇯🇵 Japan |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Japanese Toad sighting in Nikko National Park on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April, June and August
In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Japanese Toad in Nikko National Park on a given day, against about 10% in February–March, July and November, the lowest months.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Japanese Toad sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Only Nikko National Park, in our data
Nikko National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Japanese Toad sightings: about 40% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Japanese Toad is recorded against all the amphibians logged in Nikko National Park (14 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
