Description
True toads have in common a stocky figure and short legs, which make them relatively poor jumpers. As with all members of the family Bufonidae, they lack a tail and teeth, and they have horizontal pupils. Their dry skin is thick and warty.
Behind their eyes, Bufo species have wartlike structures, the parotoid glands. These glands distinguish the true toads from all other tailless amphibians. They secrete a fatty, white poisonous substance which acts as a deterrent to predators. Ordinary handling of toads is not dangerous, and does not cause warts in contradiction to folk beliefs. The poison of most if not all toads contains bufotoxin; the poison of the Sonoran Desert Toad, Bufo alvarius, is a potent hallucinogen containing 5-MeO-DMT and bufotenin. The poison's psychoactive effects are said to have been known to Precolumbian Native Americans.
Toads can also inflate their bodies when threatened. Males are usually smaller than females and possess the organ of Bidder, an incomplete ovary. The adult males of many species show a dark throat. Breeding males have dark nuptial pads on their thumbs. When stressed, toads can let a poison seep through their skin that when swallowed could kill a large dog.
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