Fire-Bellied Toads and Barbourulas: Bombinatoridae

Fire-bellied toads are best known for the striking red, orange, or yellow colors that many species have on their throats, bellies, and even the undersides of the forelegs. They are named for these flame-like colors, which have black or gray spots, blotches, and patterns running through them. When seen from the top, the frogs show no hint of the bright colors underneath, and the brown, gray, and/or green of their backs and heads blend in with the environment. Some have patterns on their backs, but these also camouflage the frog rather than make it more noticeable. The barbourulas are also colored in muddy greens and browns, but they do not have the flashy undersides of the fire-bellied toads.

Members of this family have skin on their backs that is covered with warts and sometimes with pointy warts that look like tiny spikes. The belly skin, in contrast, is much smoother and in most cases has no warts at all. The head has a rounded snout and two large eyes with triangular pupils, and the sides of the head do not have the round eardrums, or tympanums (tim-PAN-umz) seen in many other frogs.

The frogs are small- to medium-sized. Adults grow from 1.6 to 3.9 inches (4 to 10 centimeters) long from the tip of the snout to the rump. Males and females look alike, except that the males have leathery pads on their front feet. The males use these pads to clutch onto the females during the mating season.

Even though the fire-bellied toads and barbourulas are often listed as being in their own family, some people prefer to group them into another family that also contains the midwife toads and painted frogs. Other scientists like to split them into still different arrangements. Scientists are not sure which is best, but most lean toward the family as it is described here.