Morphological and molecular investigation of the common toad (Bufo bufo)

Morphological and Molecular Investigation of the Common Toad {Bufo bufo) The common toad, Bufo bufo, is a wide-ranging species, with a distribution encompassing much of Europe, parts of northern Africa and western Asia. Although 3 subspecies (B. b. bufo, B. b. spinosus, B. b. verrucosissimus) were mentioned from Turkey until now, the validity of these subspecies were not clear, because the most of the studies were limited to morphology. In this study, 20 morphological characters of 95 Bufo bufo specimens were measured and some statistical analyses (ANOVA, Factor and Discriminant Analyses) were performed for morphological results. As a result, although no difference was observed except the 'distance between nostril and the tip of snout' (NOSTIP) character among the individuals studied in 7 sites, partly discrimination was found in Italy specimens especially in terms of having long snout. Twenty nine specimens of Bufo bufo were examined by sequencing a portion of 936 bp of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene and performing some phylogenetic analyses (Maximum Parsimony, Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Analysis). 23 haplotypes were revealed and these haplotypes show differences of up to 17 base substitutions (% 0.11 - % 1.85). But it was concluded that this difference is not significant for a concept of subspecies and regard as an intraspecific variation. Also, the divergence time estimated among the haplotypes of Bufo bufo specimens suggested a Pleistocene differentiation approximately 1 million years ago. Key Words: Bufo bufo, Common Toad, 16S rRNA, Pleistocene vn