Amphibians
Common Spadefoot
Pelobates fuscus · also called common spadefoots, European common spadefoot
Buried beneath light, sandy soil for most of the year, a common spadefoot emerges only briefly to feed and breed, a once-widespread European amphibian now absent from large stretches of farmland that has lost the exact loose soil and temporary pools it depends on.
Overview
The common spadefoot, Pelobates fuscus, is a burrowing amphibian native to grassland and other open habitat with light, sandy soil across parts of central and eastern Europe. Its hard, spade-like digging structure, near-total dependence on temporary breeding pools, and significant disappearance from large parts of its historical range make it one of the more conservation-significant amphibians of the European countryside.
A species undone by disappearing soil and puddles
The common spadefoot’s entire way of life depends on a specific combination of loose, diggable soil and shallow, temporary pools, a combination that intensive farming has quietly eliminated across much of the species’ former range.
Status
Least Concern overall, though it has disappeared from large parts of its historical European range and is now legally protected in several countries.
Common Spadefoot: common questions
Why is the common spadefoot called that?
This species has a hard, dark, spade-shaped structure on each hind foot, an adaptation used for digging backward into loose soil, and this feature, shared broadly across the wider spadefoot group of amphibians, gives the species its common name.
Why has the common spadefoot disappeared from parts of Europe?
This species depends on shallow, temporary breeding pools and light, diggable soils, and as agricultural intensification and development have drained, filled, ploughed, or otherwise eliminated these specific conditions across large parts of Europe, the species has disappeared from significant portions of its former historical range.
How much time does the common spadefoot spend underground?
This species spends the great majority of its life buried in loose, sandy soil, emerging mainly at night to feed or during the breeding season to reproduce, a lifestyle that keeps it hidden from view for most of the year despite the species once being widespread across much of Europe.
Why does the common spadefoot need temporary breeding pools?
This species breeds in shallow, often temporary pools, conditions that support tadpole development while limiting the presence of fish that would otherwise prey heavily on eggs and larvae, a strategy that depends entirely on this specific type of breeding habitat remaining available and undisturbed.