Anatomy
Adult: The larger of the males and females are between 35 and 55 mm, making them very small for Archaeobatrachians. Their top side is grey-brown, often with washed-out, bright spots. Their underside, including the inner sides of the limbs, fingers and toes is grey-blue to black-blue with striking, bright yellow to orange spots or patches, usually covering more than half of the underside. Yellow-bellied toads have a compact body - though not so flat as the related European Fire-bellied Toad - and a rounded snout. The pupils are heart-shaped, with the eardrums not visible. The overside has numerous warts with raised swirls.
The mating call of the males can be heard in late spring and early summer, a dull but melodic "uh... uh... uh" from their mating grounds. As the species does not have a vocal bladder, in contrast to the red-bellied toad, its call is quite gentle.
Spawn: The eggs are laid in loose clutches of 2 to 30 eggs in grass or often in patches of plants. The eggs are medium brown on the top side, bright brown on the bottom and measure on average 1.5 to 2 mm, while the jelly layer is 5 to 8 mm thick. The principal spawning time lasts from May to June.
Larva: At their highest the edges of the fins of the 55 mm long tadpoles reach to the middle of the body; the tail ends are rounded off. They are a dirty grey in colour and shine in all colours of the rainbow.
Read more about this topic: Yellow-bellied Toad
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