Maria Ny’s Ask Auntie Antelope Blog

Yes, it can. Rattles are delicate and can be lost to predators. They can also get caught somewhere or be lost by other means.

There actually are no scientific distinctions between frogs and toads. The term “frog” is actually a general term for any amphibian grouped under the superorder Salienta and order Anura, which includes all species of frogs and toads. The name Anura comes from the Greek an (without) and ura (a tail), referring to their tailless condition. Twenty-five families with over 4,000 Anuran species are currently recognized today, with more being discovered regularly.

Characteristics all frogs and toads share in common include the fact that all frogs and toads:

• Are amphibians, meaning double life because many species of both spend part of their time in aquatic (water) and terrestrial (land) environments. Amphibians are cold-blooded vertebrate animals. Unlike reptiles, amphibians have no scales.
• Hatch from eggs as tadpoles and experience the process of metamorphosis, meaning a change (meta) in form (morpho). At birth, the tadpoles will generally attach themselves to wees or grass in the water. In 7 to 10 days, they start swimming around and feeding on algae. They start absorbing their tails and growing legs after about 6 to 9 weeks. About 12 weeks of age, tadpoles become froglets and only have tiny stubby tails. Between 12 and 16 weeks, froglets completely absorb their tails and leave the water, becoming adult frogs.
• Can breathe through their skins.
• Lay eggs in water or in moist terrestrial sites.
• Rest with their eyes closed and hibernate in the winter.

However, while all toads are frogs, not all frogs are toads. True frogs (members of the family Ranidae, containing more than 400 species) are not considered toads. And, even though there are several families of toad, the common name “toad” is given specifically to members of the family Bufonidae (true toads), which contains more than 300 species. Here are some of the differences between true frogs and true toads:

• True frogs can be found on every continent except Antarctica. True toads can be found worldwide except in Australasia (a region of Oceania that includes Australia, New Zealand, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean), polar regions, Madagascar, and Polynesia. However, the giant toad (Bufo marinus), also known as the cane toad and marine toad, has been artificially introduced into Australia and some South Pacific islands.
• True frogs have two bulging eyes and long, strong legs for hopping. They also have fully-webbed hind feet that are adapted for swimming. True toads have fat boddies with short legs that are mainly used for walking instead of hopping. They have almost no webbing on their hind feet.
• True frogs generally spend most of their lives in or near water, so they have smooth, clammy skin. True toads are typically land-dwellers that find their way into gardens and yards. They have dry, bumpy skin.
• True frogs are usually brightly colored. True toads, on the other hand, are generally well-camouflaged to blend in with their environments.
• True frogs are active hunters, leaping out to pull in their prey. True toads are ambush hunters that wait for their prey to pass before attacking.
• True toads have paratoid (poison) glands behind the eyes. They exude a white fluid through these glands and through their skin that is very poisonous. It causes intense burning if it comes in contact with the eyes or mouth.
• True toads have a special organ that true frogs don’t have–the Bidder’s organ, which is a vestigial ovary that is found in the male toad.
• True frogs have upper and lower teeth. True toads don’t have upper teeth.
• True frogs generally lay their eggs in clusters, while most true toads lay theirs in long chains, with the exception of genera Nectophrynoides–the only anurans that bear live young.
• A true frog’s back is raised with two ridges down each side. True toads have a more flattened appearance.
• The true toad’s chest cartilage is different than that of the true frog’s.
• A group of frogs is called an “army”, while a group of toads is called a “knot”.

According to the Penguin Dictionary of Biology (Abercrombie et al., 1966), Amphibia are a class of vertebrates represented by three orders: Anura (Frogs and Toads), Urodela (Newts and Salamanders) and Apoda (strange burrowing worm-like creatures called Caecelians, pronounced seh-SILL-yuns).

The word Amphibian is derived from the greek words amphi, which means “two” and “bios” means lives. This refers to the fact that they spend part of their lives under water (breathing with gills) and the remainder on land (breathing with lungs). There are about 5,500 known species of amphibians.

Amphibians are cold-blooded (ectothermic), meaning that they cannot internally regulate their body heat like mammals. They rely completely on warmth from the sunlight for warmth and a burrow, other form of shade or water to cool down. Amphibians don’t drink. Instead, they absorb water and much of the oxygen they need through their skin.

Aquatic amphibians lay their eggs in a big mass, outside the body. Fertilization occurs by the male squirting his sperm over these eggs (external fertilization). Amphibians that reproduce this way need water or moist soil for breeding. Without water, their eggs (which are not protected by a shell) would quickly dry out and the young would die before they even had a chance to develop. But, there are also many species of amphibians that fertilize their eggs internally and many that do not require water fertilization.

There are people who think that amphibians all undergo metamorphosis and that they all hatch and start off as tadpoles. This is true with the aquatic amphibians, but there are a lot of species that do not undergo the free-swimming tadpole stage. Rather, they undergo direct development in burrows to adulthood.

Some amphibians avoid the drying effects of the sun by being active only at night (nocturnal). Others shelter in moist habitats under logs, rocks, leaves, mosses and ferns.

Characteristics of Amphibians:

1. Circulatory system has a 3 chambered heart with a separate blood circuit through the lungs.
2. Skin must remain moist. It is highly vascularized because it acts as a respiratory surface (sometimes the only respiratory surface).
3. Some amphibians, the caecelians, have internal fertilization. Most amphibians deposit eggs in water where they are externally fertilized.
4. All amphibians are at least in part, dependent on environmental water.

Amphibian or Reptile?
If you see an animal and you can’t tell whether it’s an amphibian or reptile, examine the skin. If it’s hard and scaly with scutes or bony plates, it’s a reptile. An amphibian’s skin is soft and smooth or warty-looking, and it may also be moist.

What kind of amphibian is it?
If it has legs and a tail, it’s a salamander or newt. If it doesn’t have a tail but has legs, it’s a frog or toad. And it’s easy to tell Caecelians from other types of amphibians because they look like worms.

The largest amphibian is the Japanese giant salamander (Andrias japonicus), at 6 feet long (1.8 meters) and 140 pounds (63 kilograms), and the smallest is an Izecksohn’s toad (Brachycephalus didactylus) that weighs just a few grams.

Around a third of amphibian species are threatened with extinction. Traditional threats to species and ecosystems (such as habitat loss and pollution) are being compounded by new threats such as climate change and emerging disease.