One night, as I arrived home from a long, hard workout session at the gym, I spotted something in the driveway. My windows were fogged up so I couldn't really identify it. I put the car in park, gathered my things and headed for the door. I soon realize that it was a frog; or a toad? I couldn't really tell. I wanted to pick it up, but I didn't know if it would pee on me or poison me. I started to scratch my head because my ignorance was now started to get on my nerves.
Later, I made my way upstairs and began doing research. Here is what I found. The reason why I couldn't tell whether or not the animal was a toad or a frog was that the two animals are in fact quite similar. Though they are different in species, they are actually very similar and of the same family.
The differences that the animals have are subtle at most. One distinction that can be made is the fact that the frog and the toad have different skin textures. Toads tend to have dry, bumpy, and warty skin whereas frogs have smooth slimy skin. Since this incident occurred at night it occurred to me that I might not have been able to see this distinction in the bad lighting conditions.
Bodily structure also came up as a marked distinction. Frogs tend to have long thin legs as well as webbed back feet to help them swim through the water. Toads have shorter legs; they are stubby and muscular in general. This is beneficial to them because they spent much more time on land.
Their interaction with other animals can also signify a difference. I didn't have the luxury of witnessing an interspecies behavioral exchange. According to my sources, toads generally have poisonous sacs under the eyes. For this reason, many predator animals find that eating a toad is very unpleasant. There are certain species of frog that are poisonous just to touch. These types are mostly found in the rainforest though.
As far as offspring go, frogs use a circular pattern to lay their eggs and toads lay eggs in long strings. Researchers have also found that the two animals actually sound different as well. After doing my research I realized that the animal I saw in the driveway was a toad. I smiled, and shut down my computer.
One of my sources was actually quite helpful. If you wouldn't like more information on many other types of animals go to www.newyorkveterinarianclinics.com.
Joseph Devine
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