Bufotes latastii, commonly known as the Baltistan toad, Ladakh toad or vertebral-banded toad, is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae.[1] It is found in the West Himalayan region at altitudes of from northern Pakistan to Ladakh in India; although sometimes reported elsewhere, this is the result of misidentifications of other species.[2] It is found in alpine forests, coniferous forests, grasslands, paddy fields, mountain desert and roadsides. It often lives near water, like lakes and ponds, in the riparian growth.[2] It can be beneficial to humans as it feeds on insects and their larvae within areas of agriculture.[1]
It is generally fairly common,[2] and not considered threatened by the IUCN, although locally declining due to habitat loss (logging), pesticides, and other sources of pollution.
Adult B. latastii have a snout–vent length of about .[1] [3]
Description from "Fauna of British India":[4]
Crown without bony ridges; snout short, blunt; interorbital space narrower than the upper eyelid; tympanum very distinct, half the diameter of the eye. First finger not extending beyond second; toes two-thirds webbed, with double subartieular tubercles; two moderate metatarsal tubercles; a tarsal fold. The tarsometatarsal articulation reaches the tympanum or the hinder border of the eye. Upper parts with irregular, depressed, distinctly porous warts; parotoids moderate, kidney-shaped; a parotoid-like gland on the calf. Olive above, spotted or marbled with blackish; a light vertebral band; beneath more or less spotted or marbled with blackish.