Frogs have a thin, moist skin and as such must stay close to water. Toads have a thick dry skin, and often venture far from water into fairly arid areas. Frogs have long hind legs and leap. Toads have short hind legs and hop. Frogs are therefore a lot harder to catch by hand. References :
They are pretty much the same shape but toads do not dry out as easily as frogs do so they live on land. Some frogs live on land but most live in the water. Frogs have smooth wet slimy skin and toads have dry bumpy skin. Toads are most active at night when it is moist outside and they can’t be seen by predators(birds,racoons) as easily. They spend their days underground in burrows.
There are thousands of types of frogs in the world some are only about 1/4 long and weigh less than a M&M, and some weigh almost 7 pounds. References :
There are only two words in the English language to describe the thousands of species of tailless amphibians found in the world, probably because England has a rather limited number of species of these amphibians. Technically frog refers to the tailless amphibians of the family Ranidae, represented by such species as the bullfrog and the Goliath frog. This family is comopolitan so the name frog can be used world wide. The word toad technically refers to tailless amphibians of the family Bufonidae, which is alos a cosmopolitan family. There are a lot of other families of tailless amphibians in this world and there is no English word to refer to them. So the words frog and toad are used to loosely refer to other tailless amphibians. If a species has a squat body and short limbs, it is often referred to as a toad. For example, the midwife toad of Europe is not a true bufonid toad, but it looks superficially like a toad so it is called a toad. OTOH, the Darwin’s frog Rhinoderma darwinii is not a ranid frog, but it looks superificially like a bullfrog more than it does a toad, so it is called a frog.
There are exceptions of course, the horned frogs are called "frogs" even though they look like toads, because the term "horny toads" had been used to describe the horned lizards of the southwestern United States, even though these lizards are not amphibians. The horned lizards have a squat body and short legs, so people who cannot tell an amphibian from a reptile called them horny toads.
Therefore the main difference between a frog and a toad is the shape of its body: squat and short legged = toad, slim waisted and long legged = frog. References :
toads typically live in arid climates
frogs live in or close to bodies of water
References :
just a general classification
Frogs have a thin, moist skin and as such must stay close to water. Toads have a thick dry skin, and often venture far from water into fairly arid areas. Frogs have long hind legs and leap. Toads have short hind legs and hop. Frogs are therefore a lot harder to catch by hand.
References :
They are pretty much the same shape but toads do not dry out as easily as frogs do so they live on land. Some frogs live on land but most live in the water. Frogs have smooth wet slimy skin and toads have dry bumpy skin. Toads are most active at night when it is moist outside and they can’t be seen by predators(birds,racoons) as easily. They spend their days underground in burrows.
There are thousands of types of frogs in the world some are only about 1/4 long and weigh less than a M&M, and some weigh almost 7 pounds.
References :
There are only two words in the English language to describe the thousands of species of tailless amphibians found in the world, probably because England has a rather limited number of species of these amphibians. Technically frog refers to the tailless amphibians of the family Ranidae, represented by such species as the bullfrog and the Goliath frog. This family is comopolitan so the name frog can be used world wide. The word toad technically refers to tailless amphibians of the family Bufonidae, which is alos a cosmopolitan family. There are a lot of other families of tailless amphibians in this world and there is no English word to refer to them. So the words frog and toad are used to loosely refer to other tailless amphibians. If a species has a squat body and short limbs, it is often referred to as a toad. For example, the midwife toad of Europe is not a true bufonid toad, but it looks superficially like a toad so it is called a toad. OTOH, the Darwin’s frog Rhinoderma darwinii is not a ranid frog, but it looks superificially like a bullfrog more than it does a toad, so it is called a frog.
There are exceptions of course, the horned frogs are called "frogs" even though they look like toads, because the term "horny toads" had been used to describe the horned lizards of the southwestern United States, even though these lizards are not amphibians. The horned lizards have a squat body and short legs, so people who cannot tell an amphibian from a reptile called them horny toads.
Therefore the main difference between a frog and a toad is the shape of its body: squat and short legged = toad, slim waisted and long legged = frog.
References :