All Things Frog

A compact visual reference to the habitat, distribution and conservation status of 300 of the world's frogs that combines color photographs, expert text and detailed species profiles -- a straightforward introduction for naturalists and enthusiasts.

Full-page color photographs help identify species in the field, and data sidebars provide the latest knowledge and include genus, common and scientific names. For ease of identification, the extensive index lists frogs by both common and species names.

Excerpted from the

Introduction
Frogs and toads are the most abundant and familiar amphibians. They make themselves known to us by croaking or calling, especially in the breeding season. Many have names that describe their voices, such as Bullfrog, Pig Frog, Barking Frog, Spring Peeper, and Blacksmith Frog.

Many species have big bulging eyes and a wide grin, making them appear "friendly," and few people dislike them in the same way that they dislike lizards and snakes, for example. Toads sometimes receive a bad press, however, mainly because of the sinister connotations they acquired during the Middle Ages, when they were associated with witchcraft.


Frogs or Toads?
Strictly speaking, there is no real difference between frogs and toads; all of them are known to scientists as anurans. In plain English, however, we usually reserve the term toad for dry, warty species that run or walk. Many of them belong to the family Bufonidae, but toads are also found in other families. Frogs have smooth damp skins, live near water, and they leap. There are exceptions to this rule, though, and some families contain species that are variously called frogs or toads. It is less confusing to think of all the tailless amphibians as frogs and use the word toad for members of certain families such as the Bufonidae.