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The Frog Blog!

Posted by on September 11, 2013

Common Frog (Rana temporaria) By Mark Leach, Marketing Manager at the Society of Biology


Working on the premise that my initial response of ‘don’t really know’ wouldn’t have provided the most informative of blogs, I revisited my previous technique of typing his query into my search engine of choice.

I did know that they are both amphibians (by my understanding, a creature that is capable of living both on land and in water). However, to confuse things further, wikianswers advises that, while both toads and frogs are in the same group of animals (Anurans), toads are a specific family within this group called Bufonidae.

Thankfully, it gets simpler. Frogs live and breed mainly in water, and have teeth on the top of their mouths (frogs have teeth?!). On the other hand, toads are predominantly toothless land-dwellers. However, they compensate for their lack of teeth by having a paratoid (poison) gland behind their eyes, which means that they really don’t taste good to predators!

UK Safari adds that the skin of a frog will look quite smooth, while a toad will appear more ‘warty’. OK so far, but they then go on to say that a frog’s skin will be moist to the touch, while a toad’s will be dry and warty. Prodding amphibians really isn’t my thing (particularly when they are ‘warty’) and I guess it wouldn’t be much fun for them – always assuming that they would be happy to stand around waiting for finger contact!

Common Toad (Bufo bufo), Skomer

However, the site then goes on to explain that frogs will have a raised back with two straight lines running down it, while a toad’s back is generally more flattened. Also, if it’s jumping away from your outstretched finger it’s probably a frog – apparently toad’s legs aren’t as strong, and they tend to hop or walk.

Froglife goes on to say that frogs will lay clumps of spawn in shallower water, as opposed to the long strings of spawn laid by toads. Toad spawn will usually be found wrapped around vegetation in slightly deeper water. Both tadpoles are black at the outset, although frog tadpoles will become a mottled brown as they develop. Also, both will grow their back legs first, but while toad tadpoles often form shoals, frogs are more antisocial (although they will stick together in a writhing mass when they first hatch).

So there you go! If you have any other queries for a keen amateur biologist, please let us know!

2 Responses to The Frog Blog!

  1. Jack

    Thanks for this interesting article, i could never remember the differences between a frog and a toad. I was wondering if frogs and toads are an example of the evolutionary process which may have created the different species. Were they originally the same animal that went through natural selection to survive in different environments? or are they two different amphibians with no relation. Their overall shape and look seem the same, so maybe they both share the same ancestor. Whats your opinion on this ? ( this website had some interesting information about the evolution of amphibians that you might find interesting.

  2. Rebecca Nesbit

    How does a frog breathe? Does it have blood?