Let Us Differentiate Toads From Frogs.

Many people wonder if a frog is different from a toad. The most important things are different, otherwise they are very much alike. They both belong to the cold-blood creatures. They live both on land and in water.

Most frogs and toads resemble each other closely. It is mostly different to tell them apart. The frogs are smooth and slippery; long and graceful. Most toads are dry, warty, and squat. Also most frogs have teeth while most toads have none.

Almost all Amphibian lay eggs, so frogs toads are alike. The eggs of both look like specks of dust floating on water lop in jellylike substance. In hatching we get tadpoles, that look more like fish than frogs or toads.

The tadpoles breathe through gills. They have a long swimming tail, but no legs. The eggs develop into the tadpoles stage about three to twenty five days. In about four months’ time the tadpoles lose their gills and their tail. They develop legs and lungs. It still takes about a year in the tadpole to become a frog. Frogs and toads often live to a good old age, say from thirty to fifty years.

A toad lays fewer eggs than a frog our to twelve thousand eggs every year. A female bull frog lays from eighteen thousand to twenty thousand eggs in a season. There are certain other kinds of toads in which the male plays an important part in hatching eggs. Wrafe,is a kind of male toad found in Europe. They have long strings of eggs about his feet and sits in a hole in the ground with them until they are ready to hatch. He carries them back to the pond.

A weird-looking toad, which lives in South America hatches out its eggs in holes in its back. These holes are covered with skin and are filled with a liquid. The young remain in these holes while they pass through the tadpole stage.

Toads live in temperate regions, are usually brown and olive, while those in the tropics are often bright-coloured. It is not harmful to handle toads.