Difference Between Frog and Toad

Have you ever focused on those tiny (or big) hopping creatures ever? We know those hopping animals are frogs and toads. But do you know the difference between them?

How do you identify a frog from a toad or vice versa? We have answers to those questions. Today, we will learn about the difference between frog and toad. Shall we begin?

Before we jump into the difference between frog and toad, let us know the scientific classification of frog and toad.

Frogs and toads belong to the order Anura.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Clade: Salientia
Order: Anura

A Basic Understanding of Frog

Frogs have a stout body and protruding eyes and no tail (except for tailed frogs). They have webbed toes, long hind legs, and smooth skin.

They are found almost everywhere, from tropics to subarctic regions. The tropical region has the highest concentration of frogs. There are 6,300 species of frogs in the world.

Their size ranges from 7.7 millimeters to 32 centimeters. A group of frogs is called ‘army.’

They are omnivores meaning they eat both plants and animals. They are oviparous, meaning they lay eggs.

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A Basic Understanding of Toad

Toad is a name given to frogs that have dry skin, short legs, large warts or bumps on the skin.

Toads majorly belong to the family Bufonidae. They belong to other families, also like Pelobatidae, Bombinatoridae, Microhylidae, Discoglossidae, etc.

There are a few differences between frogs and toads that we will discuss below briefly.

Skin

Frogs have slimy skin. It is because of the waxy secretion on the skin to keep the skin moist and prevents it from drying out. The waxy layer also helps frogs to keep them healthy as the layer acts as a microbial and microfungal layer.

Toads have drier skin with warts. Here, the bumps on the skin are called warts, and they are not painful or not caused by infection. Their skin is also more water-proof.

Eggs

Frogs lay eggs in large and round clusters on the surface of the water. The eggs can be easily seen. The eggs are translucent, and you can literally see black spots, which are the embryos. The embryos receive heat because of the translucency.

In certain species, male frogs guard the eggs.

Toads lay eggs in a line or long strings. The eggs are usually wrapped around leaves or tall grass near a water body. They are not easily visible.

Toads don’t guard their eggs. Instead, they secrete some poison around the eggs to keep them protected from predators.

Tadpoles

Tadpoles of frogs are slim and are covered in gold flecks.

Tadpoles of toads are bulky and are black.

Location

Frogs prefer areas near a water body. As they lose more water through evaporation, they stay close to a water source.

Toads can live in dry areas better than frogs.

Shape

Frogs have leaner and longer bodies. Hind legs are longer than the head, and the rest of the body combined. Because of this, they can leap to great distances.

Toads have a little fat body. They mostly crawl and not hop or jump as their hind legs are not longer than the rest of the body.

Feet

Frogs have webbed feet, which facilitates them to swim in the water.

Toads don’t have webbed feet.

Similarities Between Frog and Toad

So, you may ask, are there any similarities between a frog and a toad? Yes, there are similarities.

Classification

The classification provided at the start of this article is the classification of both frogs and toads.

Diet

Both frogs and toads are omnivores. Their diet is varied and abundant. They both can’t chew, and they swallow the prey.

Skin

Both toads and frogs have glands on the skin that produce secretions. Some of the secretions are poisonous to keep the predators at bay. Both of them shed their skin from time to time.

Fun Fact: There are no venomous toads found to date. There are two venomous frogs. They are Greening’s frog and Bruno’s casque-headed frog.

Note: There is no taxonomical justification for the words frog and toad. It is generally believed that the members of the order Anura are frogs, and the ones present only in family Bufonidae are toads.

So all toads are frogs, but all frogs are not toads. The difference between frog and toad is informal and is not based on classification or evolution.