Caucasian Parsley Frog
Pelodytes caucasicus
An Eocene relict — a parsley frog endemic to the western Caucasus ecoregion.
Overview
What is Caucasian Parsley Frog
The Caucasian parsley frog (Pelodytes caucasicus) is biologically confirmed. It is a relict: diverged from its closest relatives since the Eocene and separated from the P. punctatus group by a broad morphological and genetic hiatus. Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026: endemic to the western part of the Caucasus ecoregion. The barcode is from Gombori. The checklist figure is Kistauri.
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Questions
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the most important questions about Caucasian Parsley Frog.
Yes. Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026 list it as biologically confirmed. The barcode is from Gombori; the figure is Kistauri.
The checklist calls it endemic to the western Caucasus ecoregion — broader than Georgia’s political border. Unlike Mertensiella, it is not listed here as a Georgia-only endemic.
This is Pelodytes (parsley frog), not Pelobates (spadefoot).
Site classification: Harmless. Venom: none.
- Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026 — Annotated checklist of Georgia's amphibians and reptiles
- Iankoshvili & Tarkhnishvili 2021 — Georgian herpetofauna records cited in Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026
- AmphibiaWeb
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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