Toad

A toad is a type of amphibian that lives on land but lays its eggs in water. Toads are closely related to frogs. In fact, scientists consider toads to be a kind of frog. People usually use the word "toad" for species with dry, bumpy skin and short legs. True toads belong to a family called Bufonidae. Around 600 species live on every continent except Antarctica.

Toads and frogs look alike, but there are clear differences. Frogs have smooth, wet skin and long, strong back legs for jumping far. Toads have dry, lumpy skin and shorter legs. They hop in small, bumpy movements instead of making big leaps. Frogs usually stay near water. Toads can live in drier places, like gardens, fields, and forests.

Those bumps on a toad's skin are not warts. They are glands that make a bitter, poisonous liquid. When a hungry animal bites a toad, it gets a mouthful of bad-tasting goo and usually spits the toad out. Some toads, like the cane toad, make poison strong enough to kill a dog. Touching a toad will not give you warts, no matter what old stories say. But you should always wash your hands afterward.

Toads start life as tiny eggs laid in long jelly strings in a pond or slow stream. The eggs hatch into tadpoles, which look like little black fish. Tadpoles breathe through gills and eat algae. Over a few weeks, a tadpole grows back legs, then front legs. Its tail shrinks, its gills turn into lungs, and it climbs out of the water as a young toad. This change from water creature to land creature is called metamorphosis.

Adult toads are hunters. They sit still and wait for insects, worms, slugs, or spiders to come close. Then their long, sticky tongue shoots out and snaps the prey back into their mouth. A single toad can eat thousands of bugs in one summer, which is why gardeners love having them around.

Toads are in trouble in many places. A deadly fungus called chytrid has wiped out amphibians around the world. Pollution, lost habitat, and roads that cut through ponds also harm them. Because toads breathe partly through their skin, they are very sensitive to chemicals in the water and air. Scientists call them "indicator species." When toads start disappearing from a place, it usually means the whole ecosystem is getting sick.