Page 45 - Amphibian

Smooth, Dry,
Long wet skin warty
leg skin
Short
leg

Frog Toad
LOOKING FOR DIFFERENCES
The difference between the long (leaping) legs of
frogs and the short (hopping or walking) legs
of toads is clearly seen above, but some
species of frog have short legs. Biologists
have tried to find other ways of telling
frogs and toads apart and were Parotoid
hopeful when they discovered two gland
chest cartilages that were joined
together in frogs and
overlapping in toads. But in
Darwin’s frog these
cartilages are partly joined
and partly overlapping. TRUE TOAD
The Eurasian common
toad is a typical toad –
it has dry, warty skin,
parotoid, or poison, glands
behind the eyes, a squat
body, short legs for walking
or hopping, and less webbing
on its feet than frogs have.
Toads prefer dry land but enter
water in the breeding season;
however, some hibernate, or
overwinter, in water.

Squat
body Dry, warty skin

Eurasian
common toad
Almost no webbing on foot

Short leg TREE FROG?
This little banana tree frog has
overlapping chest cartilages –
Lateral line which normally would make it
a toad – yet it has a smooth
skin and a froglike
appearance, so it
is referred to
as a frog.

AFRICAN CLAWED
FROG … OR TOAD?
Some people call this
a clawed frog, and others
a clawed toad. It has very
smooth skin, lives in water, and
has fused chest cartilages, so it
should be called a frog. However, Banana
scientific names are less confusing – tree frog
it is known as a Xenopus (zen-o-
puss) throughout the world.

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