Anatomy:
Frogs and toads belong to the order Anura (meaning "without a tail", since most have no tail in their adult form). They also have a very short backbone.

	True Frogs (Family Ranidae)	True Toads (Family Bufonidae)
Skin	Moist and smooth	Bumpy and dry
Teeth	Teeth in upper jaw	No teeth
Eyes	Eyes bulge out from the body	Eyes do not bulge out from the body; a poison gland is located behind each eye.
Hind Legs	Long, powerful jumping legs; most frogs have webbed hind feet.	Shorter legs (for walking)
Eggs	Eggs laid in clusters	Eggs laid in long chains (but a few toads give birth to live young)

Diet:
Frogs and toads eat insects, spiders, small fish, worms and other tiny animals. They catch them with their long, sticky tongue.

Life Cycle:
Like all amphibians, frogs spend their lives near water because they must return to the water to lay their eggs. Frogs and toads begin their lives as tiny eggs laid in clusters on or very near the water. The eggs hatch into tadpoles that swim in fresh water and breathe with gills. As a tadpole grows, it develops legs and loses its tail. When this process is complete, the froglet breathes with lungs and lives on land.

Beginnings:
The first true frogs evolved during the early Jurassic period, about 200 million years ago (during the time of the dinosaurs).

Classification of Frogs and Toads:

Kingdom Animalia (animals)
Phylum Chordata (animals with a notochord)
Class Amphibia (amphibians)
Order Anura (frogs and toads)
Family Many families, including Family Bufonidae (toads), Family Centrolenidae, Family Dendrobatidae (poison dart frogs), Family Discoglossidae, Family Hylidae (tree frogs, etc.), Family Hyperolidae, Family Leptodactylidae, Family Microhylidae, Family Myobatrachidae, Family Pelobatidae, Family Pipidae, Family Pseudidae, Family Ranidae (true frogs), Family Rhacophoridae, Family Rhinophrynidae.