What is the difference between a frog and a toad?
All toads are frogs, but the word toad usually describes frogs with dry, bumpy skin and short legs that live mostly on land. Frogs typically have smooth, moist skin and long legs for jumping.
Frogs and toads both belong to the order Anura, meaning without tail. Scientists use toad mainly for members of the family Bufonidae, the true toads, but in everyday speech it describes any frog that looks warty and dry. Typical frogs live in or near water, while toads can live in drier places and usually return to water only to breed.
Frogs usually have long, powerful back legs for leaping and swimming, and many have webbed feet. Toads have shorter legs and tend to walk or make small hops. Many toads have large glands behind their eyes that release toxins to protect them from predators.
Eggs
Frogs often lay eggs in clumps, while true toads lay eggs in long chains. Both hatch into tadpoles that live in water and later transform into adults, a process called metamorphosis. Amphibians around the world are threatened by habitat loss and a fungal disease called chytrid.
Did You Know?
Despite the folk tale, touching a toad does not give you warts. Warts on people are caused by a virus.