FROGS & TOADS
11:22 p.m. on the night of 31st of July, I turned on my laptop with the intention to type an essay regarding my recently favourite animal, FROGS and TOADS. The reason behind this sudden burst of enthusiasm is because before dinner, I witnessed my father, the great man himself, Yusri writing a short biodata for, Datuk Nek I think for one of his works. He looked over the biodata with such precision, scanning over any grammatical errors. Then poof, I suddenly found a way to spend my time for tonight. I even shared my idea with my mother, the beautiful fair lady, Nur Fazeera about what I planned to write about (when she was making dinner), and she approved, fuelling my determination.
Without further ado, let me first share the story behind my recent obsession with frogs and toads. It all started on one fateful night, (I forgot the date exactly) but I remembered it occurred when I was 18 years old, after SPM but before my enrolment at UiTM, so a time where boredom and sleep was my closest friend. It was very late at night, and I should have been sleeping, yet I was still staring at my phone, scrolling through the endless reels in Instagram like I was paid to. Feeling thirsty and my lips drying up, I went to the kitchen to replenish my water supply with my phone in hand. Then there it was, a toad, just minding its own business in the middle of the kitchen. I looked at it, analysing this creature in the kitchen while it sat there majestically. Without much thought I pulled out my phone, crouched in front of the amphibian and took several pictures of it for you know, fun. This happened every time, late at night when I cross paths with this majestic creature. Soon enough the toad has earned its famed within my family, they doubted my actions but nonetheless awed at the picture, even go as far as notifying each other whenever one of us sees this little diva. Sadly, the toad is no longer with us, many speculations were made but in the end we don’t know why.
So why has the reputation of a single toad has made such an impact to not just my life, but to my family’s as well? Simple, it was cute. I believe a popular saying has lingered around the internet, that is: “If not friend, then why friend shaped?”. This saying explains the tendency of humans to find any creature cute or adorable because of its size or behaviour, and this applied very well in my story. The toad, though seemed rough had a certain appeal due to its shape and posture, causing each picture taken to appear amusing and adorable. My brother often corelate the toad with a famous amphibian from the anime Naruto; Gamabunta, and I have to say I do see the resemblance. After the disappearance of the famed amphibian, I would take pictures of frogs and toads whenever I stumbled upon one- I even posted a series of pictures of a toad in my Instagram profile and followed several accounts dedicated to posting reels about these amphibians.
Moving onto the biological aspects, frogs are any various tailless amphibians belonging to the order Anura. Used strictly, the term may be limited to any member of the family Ranidae (true frogs), but more broadly the name frog is often used to distinguish itself from toads. Toads in the other hand are any squat, rough-skinned, also tailless amphibian of the order Anura, and especially a member of the family Bufonidae. The distinction is not great to the public, but necessary.
The major difference that can be noticed right away are through the skin texture, frogs have smooth and moist skin while toad’s skin are dry, rough, and bumpy. Other than the obvious, frogs jump as a mean to travel, they lay eggs in clusters, have bulging eyes and teeth in the upper jaw while toads walk on all fours, lay eggs in chains, their eyes don’t protrude, and they have no teeth. Though all in all they share a lot in common, both are tailless amphibians from the order Anura, they’re both originated from tadpoles, have similar living environments and diets- though some species of toads can get a little extreme with their diets, consuming anything that moves. But in the end, both are cute, in their own way.
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Just like any animal in this world these amphibians are essential to the ecosystem, one of much importance for their existence is that they are a key component of the food web. From tadpoles that control algae growth in waterways to their fully-grown state that keep balance on the numbers of insects in one ecosystem, even serving as a core food source to various type of predators, their presence completes the chain of life. Other than that, they serve as bioindicators through their presence and health in an environment, acting as nature’s alarm towards humans regarding the health of a biosphere. These tailless amphibians are also important in the medical field, frogs as an example produce a wide array of skin secretions, many of which have significant potential to improve human health through their use as pharmaceuticals. Approximately 10% of Nobel Prizes in Physiology and Medicine have resulted from investigations that used frogs.
Closing this hopefully well-thought essay, I hoped that I have concluded my interest and obsession towards these creatures through my choice of words and grammatical use, using my keyboard as the piano to type in my emotions and thoughts into this essay. I also conclude that both frogs and toads have various difference and similarities that both play a part in keeping the balance in the ecosystem, like a wise but fictional character once said; “Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.”
REFERENCES:
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (1998, July 20). TOAD | Amphibian Adaptations & Behavior. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/animal/toad
Zug, & R, G. (2025, July 7). Frog | Definition, Species, Habitat, Classification, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/animal/frog
MSD Veterinary Manual. (2025, July 30). Table:Similarities and Differences between Frogs and Toads-MSD Veterinary Manual. https://www.msdvetmanual.com/multimedia/table/similaritiesand-differences-between-frogs-and-toads
Kriger, K. (2024, July 1). Why frogs are important — SAVE THE FROGS! SAVE THE FROGS! https://savethefrogs.com/why-frogs/
