Overview
Caucasian Toad in Georgia
The Caucasian toad (Bufo verrucosissimus) is a harmless forest toad confirmed in Georgia. It belongs to the true toad family (Bufonidae). It has no venomous bite and is not dangerous to people. In Borjomi Canyon, males are usually about 7–8.5 cm long and females about 10–13 cm; females are generally larger than males. The 2026 Georgian checklist keeps this name but treats species rank as a candidate relative to the common toad (Bufo bufo). IUCN assesses it as Least Concern. It is not on Georgia’s 2014 Red List. It is also called Colchic toad.
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Gallery
Caucasian Toad in photos
Photo: Zauri Khachidze
Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park ·
Georgia field photo
Photo: Zauri Khachidze
Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park ·
Georgia field photo
Photo: Zauri Khachidze
Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park ·
Georgia field photo
Identification
How to identify Caucasian Toad
A short, warty forest toad with a brown or grey back, a horizontal pupil and large glands behind the eyes. In Georgia it is most often confused with the green toad.
The body is stocky, with relatively short hind legs; it often crawls rather than making long jumps. The back has large rounded warts, the belly finer ones. The back is grey, light brown or reddish-brown, often with dark spots; there is no green-spotted mosaic. The belly is grey or yellowish.
Large glands sit behind the eyes (parotoids). They produce a defensive secretion that can irritate eyes or mouth. The pupil is a horizontal slit. In the Borjomi sample males are usually about 7–8.5 cm long and females about 10–13 cm.
The green toad (Bufotes viridis) has irregular green or olive spots and lives in open country. The Caucasian toad is more a forest animal. Both occur in Borjomi Canyon, but in different microhabitats.
The Caucasian parsley frog is small and slender, with a vertical pupil and an oblique cross on the back. The eastern spadefoot has a vertical pupil and a hard digging “spade” on the hind foot; Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026 place it in eastern Georgia. The long-legged wood frog and marsh frog have horizontal pupils and dorsolateral folds, and smoother skin. The eastern tree frog is green, with toe pads, and climbs.
It is not venomous. In damp forest, by a brook or a forest pool, a brown warty toad with a horizontal pupil matches this species more than the green toad. Do not pick it up.
Biology
Habitat, diet, behavior, and conservation
Habitat and range
It occurs in Georgia. It is not evenly distributed across the country; do not assume it on the dry eastern plains. A 1996 Georgian review lists 20 localities: in Abkhazia — New Athos, Sukhumi, Gagra, Bedia, Gudauta, Tsebelda, Jupshara and Lashipse; in the west and centre — Kvaliti, Kutaisi, Kharagauli, Kvereti near Chiatura, Akhaldaba, Tsagveri and Baniskhevi; in the east — the Aragvi valley, the Bursa valley (Kvareli) and Lagodekhi; in Adjara — Batumi, Mt Mtirala and the Charnali valley. The Tbilisi record (Djanashvili 1956) is treated as likely an error in that paper and is not marked on this atlas map. The 2026 barcode is from Akhaldaba; the checklist figure is Borjomi, Akhaldaba. Photos on this page were taken on 16 May 2015 in Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park (Zauri Khachidze). Distribution confidence in the checklist is medium. The range resembles that of the Caucasian parsley frog: wooded southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus, the Meskheti range and the western foothills of Trialeti. Look for it in damp, shaded broadleaf or mixed forest, scrub, forest edges and clearings. It breeds in clear still or slow water — brooks, springs, puddles and seepage pools; it may also use a larger, more permanent water body. The Borjomi study site lies at about 900–1200 m — a local study range, not a country-wide elevation limit. At species level IUCN cites 0–3000 m.
Diet
Adults hunt invertebrates on land, in leaf litter and under stones or logs where prey is abundant. There is no Georgian stomach-content study on this page; this is a species-level description. Do not treat it as biological control of garden pests.
Behavior
It lives mainly on land and prefers wet, shaded sites. Pairs often form on land; they then search for a new breeding site each year and show little fidelity to last year’s pool. If a larger, more permanent water body appears, males wait for females at the water. In Borjomi Canyon the peak of breeding has been recorded in April–June. It belongs to the forest “brown anuran” guild: females usually lay one clutch a year, unlike the open-country green toad. In the same canyon, recorded males were 2–9 years old and females 3–10; most females were 5–7 years, most males 3–5. If you find one, leave it where it is and do not pick it up. Wash your hands after any contact.
Conservation
IUCN’s 2023 assessment lists it as Least Concern; in 2009 it was Near Threatened. It is not on Georgia’s 2014 Red List — the amphibians listed there are the Caucasian salamander and the eastern spadefoot. IUCN notes protected areas in Georgia; the photos on this page are from Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park. Documented pressures are logging, grazing, pollution of breeding water and road deaths during breeding movements. In the Caucasus the introduced raccoon is also named as a threat; that is not a measured effect on every Georgian population. It is not listed on CITES. The 2026 checklist follows most authors in listing it as a species but leaves the rank a candidate. Some studies see no firm evidence of a separate species: genetic difference between Georgian and European common toads is small, and there is no sharp border in Anatolia. Field identification does not change. The nominotypical subspecies is B. v. verrucosissimus. Do not catch wild amphibians.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the most important questions about Caucasian Toad.
Yes. It is on the 2026 checklist. A 1996 review lists 20 Georgian localities. The barcode is from Akhaldaba.
In humid forest — western Colchis, Borjomi-Kharagauli, Adjara, the Aragvi valley and wooded eastern Kakheti (Lagodekhi, Kvareli). Do not assume it on the dry eastern plains. The old Tbilisi record is treated as an error.
A short, warty toad with a brown or grey back, a horizontal pupil and large glands behind the eyes. It lacks a green-spotted mosaic.
The Caucasian toad is brown and more a forest animal. The green toad has green spots and lives in open country. Both occur in Borjomi, but in different places.
No. It has no venomous bite. Secretions from the glands behind the eyes can irritate eyes or mouth; wash your hands after contact and do not pick it up.
In the Borjomi study males are usually about 7–8.5 cm and females about 10–13 cm. Females are generally larger than males.
It lives mainly on land. In Borjomi Canyon the peak of breeding is April–June. Breeding sites often change from year to year.
This atlas treats it as Bufo verrucosissimus. The 2026 checklist leaves species rank a candidate versus Bufo bufo. Field identification does not change.
References
Sources
References
Sources
- Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026 — Annotated checklist of Georgia's amphibians and reptiles
- Tarkhnishvili 1996 — The distribution and ecology of the amphibians of Georgia and the Caucasus
- Tarkhnishvili 1994 — Breeding of Bufo verrucosissimus
- Tarkhnishvili 1993 — Anurans of Borjomi Canyon
- Gokhelashvili & Tarkhnishvili 1994 — Age structure of six Georgian anuran populations
- Iankoshvili & Tarkhnishvili 2021 — Georgian herpetofauna records cited in Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026
- IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group 2023 — Bufo verrucosissimus
- Frost — Amphibian Species of the World (Bufo verrucosissimus)
- საქართველოს მთავრობის დადგენილება №190 (2014) — წითელი ნუსხა
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
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