Make Sure it's the Real Thing

Male and female cane toads are easy to tell apart from each other but somehow, many Australian ground-dwelling frogs are still doomed by golf clubs and vehicle tires/tyres because people don't get close enough to check before they become the executioner.

• Female toads have smoother but still warty skin and maroon spots down the back; they do not emit a distress call although they go through the motions of trying to call.
• Male toads (right) have a brownish yellow skin which is rough like sandpaper and they emit a machine-gun like distress call when handled.
• Both males and females have a hard ridge which goes over the top of each eye and a football shaped pupil edged in yellow; the iris is not a solid colour (like a frog's) but rather dark with splotches of yellow like spattered paint.
• Juveniles (lower right) can look nearly attractive, having
  elaborate patterns of spots and orange or red tips to the warts on their skin.
• All toads look like females until they become sexually mature and then the males change to adult male skin type and vocal capability.

Frog species	Mistaken Identities	Cane toads
the Ornate Burrowing frog (Limnodynastes ornatus) has smooth skin, only reaches 35mm in length, is very round in shape and does not have the hard ridge over the eye or a gland behind its eyes		toads get much larger and have a more oblong shape as well as the more piercing look to their eyes and a dry warty skin
the Stoney Creek frog (Litoria leseueri) is often on roads at night but it sits low to the ground and has a pointed snout	(photo to come)	the toad has a blunt snout and sits up at about a 75 degree angle
the Giant Pobblebonk (Limnodynastes interioris) has short legs, a blotchy pattern and gets as big as a typical toad but is has smooth warty skin, no hard ridge over the eye and no paratoid gland		although its appearance makes many people think it's a toad, cane toads are not yet found in the area where the Giant Pobblebonk comes from which is interior NSW
the Marbled Burrowing frog is very dark and spotted but its skin is smooth and wet and it does not have a hard ridge over the eye		toads have dry, leathery skin and a hard ridge of skin over each eye

There are other species which can be confused with toads but we don't have the photography for them. If you have a book on Australian frogs, have a look at the following species:

• Scarlet-sided Pobblebonk (Limnodynastes terrareginae)
• Stonemason Toadlet (Uperolea lithomoda) and all other Uperolea species if you are elsewhere in Australia
• Remote Froglet (Crinia remota) and most other Crinia species if you are elsewhere in Australia
• Short-footed frog (Cyclorana brevipes) and most of the other spotted Cyclorana species