Illustrations of the ventral side of European Bombina toads in nomenclaturally important specimens (top) and summary of the nomenclatural history (bottom). A Bottom right specimen in plate XXVII of Rösel (1758, pl. XXII) considered by Linnaeus (1766) to represent both his Rana variegata and Rana bombina, and (partly) used by Laurenti (1768) to describe his Bufo igneus. The color pattern unambiguously corresponds to the yellow-bellied toad (now B. variegata), further noting that Rösel depicted the fauna of Nuremberg (Germany) where only this species is present. B Illustration of Bufo igneus in Bonnaterre (1789, pl. 6–fig. 6), which is clearly a reproduction of Rösel’s plate. C Illustration of La Cepède’s invalid Rana sonans (La Cepède 1788, pl. XIII) and (D) reproduction by Bonnaterre (1789, pl. 2–fig. 3) for Rana sonans Bonnaterre, 1789; the depicted specimen is designated as the lectotype of this taxon. E Illustration of Bufo pluvialis Daudin, 1803 (pl. XXVI); the depicted specimen is designated as the lectotype of this taxon; F Bombinator igneus (Laurenti, 1768) and (G) Bombinator pachypus Bonaparte, 1838 (labeled “Bombinator pachidactylus” on the plate), as distinguished by Bonaparte (1838). H The fire-bellied toad and (I) the yellow-bellied toad, as distinguished by Boulenger (1886, pl. L). J NHMW 6698/1, the neotype of Bufo pluvialis Daudin, 1803 (credit: DJ). K MZL 11988, the neotype of Rana variegata Linnaeus, 1758 (credit: CD). The timeline is annotated with years of descriptions (diagonal labels), years of important revisions (vertical labels), and commonly used names (inside labels) for B. bombina (top) or B. variegata (bottom). The left illustration is taken from what appears to be the earliest natural history account for a fire/yellow-bellied toad (Gessner 1563).