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    Frogs vs. Toads: Caecilians

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    Zonny Zivins Presents
    Frogs are amphibians that live on every continent except Antarctica. With over 6,000 species, frogs substantially outnumber other amphibians like salamanders and caecilians. While there is no scientific distinction, frogs tend to be mostly aquatic while toads live on land near water. Frogs have teeth and eat bugs, worms, and small fish using their fast tongues. They help control insect populations but have also caused issues when introduced elsewhere, like cane toads in Australia.

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    Frogs vs. Toads: Caecilians

    Uploaded by

    Zonny Zivins Presents
    32 views2 pages
    Frogs are amphibians that live on every continent except Antarctica. With over 6,000 species, frogs substantially outnumber other amphibians like salamanders and caecilians. While there is no scientific distinction, frogs tend to be mostly aquatic while toads live on land near water. Frogs have teeth and eat bugs, worms, and small fish using their fast tongues. They help control insect populations but have also caused issues when introduced elsewhere, like cane toads in Australia.

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    Frogs are amphibians that live on every continent except Antarctica. With over 6,000 species, frogs substantially outnumber other amphibians like salamanders and caecilians. While there is no scientific distinction, frogs tend to be mostly aquatic while toads live on land near water. Frogs have teeth and eat bugs, worms, and small fish using their fast tongues. They help control insect populations but have also caused issues when introduced elsewhere, like cane toads in Australia.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    32 views2 pages

    Frogs vs. Toads: Caecilians

    Uploaded by

    Zonny Zivins Presents
    Frogs are amphibians that live on every continent except Antarctica. With over 6,000 species, frogs substantially outnumber other amphibians like salamanders and caecilians. While there is no scientific distinction, frogs tend to be mostly aquatic while toads live on land near water. Frogs have teeth and eat bugs, worms, and small fish using their fast tongues. They help control insect populations but have also caused issues when introduced elsewhere, like cane toads in Australia.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    Frogs are amphibians that are known for their jumping abilities, croaking sounds,

    bulging eyes and slimy skin. They live all over the world and are among the most
    diverse animals in the world, with more than 6,000 species.

    Frogs substantially outnumber the two other groups of amphibians — salamanders and
    caecilians. According to the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) online
    reference site, Amphibian Species of the World, which is updated in real time, as of late
    April 2015, there are 6,482 species in the Anura order (frogs and toads), 691 species in
    the Caudata order (salamanders and newts) and 204 species in the Gymnophiona order
    (caecilians). ​Caecilians​ look like large worms or slick snakes, according to the San
    Diego Zoo. They have no arms or legs, and live underground in a network of tunnels.

    Frogs vs. toads


    There is no scientific distinction between frogs and toads, according to the ​University of
    Michigan Museum of Zoology​. Frog and toads both belong to the Anura order, but are
    found in different families. "True toads" make up the Bufonidae family, which includes
    580 species.

    Frogs and toads do have specific traits that define them, however, according to the
    Maryland Zoo​. For example, frogs are mostly aquatic; most toads live on land (but near
    water). Frogs have teeth; toads do not. Toads of both sexes have a rudimentary ovary
    called a bidder's organ. Frogs are also typically longer than toads.

    Habitat
    Frogs need to be around areas with a water source to reproduce, but other than that,
    they are found on every continent except Antarctica and in almost every environment.
    The poison dart frog lives in the tropical forests of Central and South America. Northern
    leopard frogs live in the northern areas of North America in marshes and grasslands.
    The green-eyed tree frog lives in the moss-covered rain forests of Queensland,
    Australia, according to ​National Geographic​. The desert rain frog lives exclusively in
    Namibia and South Africa, along the coast in sand dunes.

    Diet
    Frogs will often eat any living thing that will fit into their mouths. This includes bugs,
    spiders, worms, slugs, larvae and even small fish. To catch prey, their sticky tongues
    will dart from their mouths and pull the prey into the frog's mouth. This movement is so
    fast often the prey doesn't have a chance to escape. A frog's tongue can snap back into
    its mouth within ​15/100ths of a second.

    Frogs and toads help keep the world's insect population under control, according to the
    San Diego Zoo. Their appetite for bugs is usually quite helpful, but sometimes it can
    lead to disaster. For example, in 1935, cane toads from Puerto Rico were introduced to
    Australia to kill sugarcane beetles. However, the cane toads, which can grow as large
    as a dinner plate, preferred to eat native frogs, small marsupials and snakes. The
    original 102 toads set out across the continent and have mushroomed in number to
    more than 1.5 billion, according to a 2010 Live Science article. Today, ​cane toads have
    conquered​ more than 386,000 square miles (1 million square kilometers) of Australia.
    This is equivalent to an area slightly larger than the states of Texas and Oklahoma
    combined.

    Habits
    Frogs are social creatures that live in groups. A group of frogs is called army, colony or
    a knot. Groups of young frogs ​will even swim together in schools​, much like fish.

    During mating season, the male frogs in a group will croak quite loudly. Frogs croak to
    attract females. When the female finds a male croak she likes, the male will grab her
    and she will release eggs for him to fertilize.

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