Difference Between Frog And Toad

Amphibians are kind of animals that live in water as well as land. The term means double life which has evolved from the species of fish around 397 years ago in the Devonian period. Thus, you see that frogs and toads are members of the amphibian class. Moreover, they also share similarities and differences as well. Consequently, we will learn the difference between frog and toad in order to understand them better. Most importantly, many people use the terms interchangeably, which is not correct. They do share the same body layout and also jump, but they are different. Both of them belong to the same order- Anura, hence the same features.

Definition of Frog

Frogs come from the Ranidae family and have many subspecies. Moreover, these subspecies are present all over the world on every continent. However, Antarctica is the only continent in which frogs do not inhabit. While frogs and toads look the same from afar, there is a major difference between frog and toad. Frogs have moist and smooth skin. Further, frogs have teeth in their upper jaw. Most importantly, their eyes stick out farther than that of a toad. Finally, they have longer hind legs when we compare them to that of a toad.

Definition of Toad

Toads come from the Bufonidae family. They also have various subspecies and can be found all over the world on every continent except for Antarctica. They look similar in appearance to frogs with short, rigid bodies, wide head, two front arms, and two hind legs. However, if you take a closer look, they have major differences that help to differentiate them. The skin of a toad is dry as well as rough. Moreover, it has warts all over its body. Further, they do not have any teeth. In addition, the hind legs of toads are shorter when compared to frogs.

Difference between Frog And Toad

Basis of Comparison	Frog	Toad
Family	Ranidae	Bufonidae
Skin	Moist and smooth	Dry, warty, and rough
Eyes	Bulging out	Don’t bulge out, poison gland behind them
Eggs	Laid in clusters, young live in water	Laid in long chains, young lives in water
Teeth	Vomerine teeth in their upper jaw	No teeth
Hind Legs	Long and powerful jumping legs	Shorter legs for walking or hopping
Habitat	Moist environment	Land
Food	Insects, worms, snails, small fish, spiders, etc.	Insects, slugs, grubs, worms and other invertebrates
Locomotion	Rarely crawl	Mostly crawl
Appearance	Lean and slender	Stubby and short
Webbed Feet	Yes	No
Tadpoles	Slim and gold in colour	Chunky and black in colour
Parotid glands	Absent	Present

More details about Frog

Frogs lay their eggs on or very close to water. Moreover, female eggs will lay their eggs in water and the male frog fertilizes them. After that, they hatch into tadpoles and develop legs when they grow up.

As you know by now, frogs lay their eggs in clusters. Frogs are carnivorous and eat insects, worms, snails, spiders, and more. Their long and sticky tongue helps them in catching them.

Frogs prefer to live in water, mainly streams and ponds. It needs to keep its skin wet so it lives near a water source. Moreover, it remains active during the daytime and at night.

More details about Toad

Toads also lay their eggs on or very close to water. They lay their eggs in long chains. Further, many toad subspecies give birth to live young. In addition, they also have similar feeding habits to frogs.

Moreover, toads live on land, mainly in fields, woods, and gardens. Toads are nocturnal and sleep all through the day. It is solitary, however, they live in groups when they want to hibernate and during mating.

FAQs about Frog And Toad

Question 1: State one difference between frog and toad.

Answer 1: A major difference between frog and toad is that frogs are more aquatic whereas toads are more terrestrial.

Question 2: What is the lifespan of a frog and toad?

Answer 2: There is no difference in lifespan for a frog and toad. The average frog or toad lives for 7 to 14 years while some live to be 40.