Page 44 - Amphibian

Frog or toad?

Frogs and toads are the most easily recognized amphibians Smooth
skin not
because they have such a distinctive body shape. Separating typical
this group into “frogs” and “toads” is not so easy, as the in toads
features used to distinguish between them do not apply
in all cases. In general, frogs are more active, are found
in or near water, and have smooth skins, long hind
legs, and fully webbed feet; toads tend to be less active,
prefer to live on land, and have dry, warty skins, short
legs, and little or no webbing. Yet some frogs do not
live near water and have little or no webbing on
their feet, and some toads have a smooth skin.
The word “frogs” is often used
by experts, to include both
frogs and toads. Disk on
finger

Slender body TREE TOAD
This Asian tree toad is quite froglike – it has
smoother skin than most other toads and has
disks on its fingers – like the banana tree
frog (bottom right). However, it
belongs to the same family as the
common toad (top right).

TRUE FROG
The European common
frog is a typical, or true,
frog – it has smooth, wet
skin, a slender body, long back
legs, and webbed feet used for
swimming. Some of these frogs stay
in the water; others leave for damp,
grassy areas and are rarely seen outside the
breeding season, which is how they got the
Latin name of Rana temporaria, meaning “temporary
frog.” Rana is found throughout the world, except in
polar regions, but there is only one species in Australia.

Illustration by
Sir John Tenniel
(1820–1914)

ALICE AND THE FROG
In Through the hooking Glass, English
author Lewis Carroll (1832–1898)
created the character Long hind leg
of Alice, who on her
adventures meets and
befriends a frog.
Typical smooth,
wet skin of frog
European
Webbing on foot common frog
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