Head to head
Puerto Rican Crested Toad vs Cane Toad
The Puerto Rican crested toad and the cane toad share the same island today, but one has lived there for its entire evolutionary history while the other arrived as an introduced species and has since become a significant part of the native toad's ongoing struggle to survive.
| Puerto Rican Crested Toad | Cane Toad | |
|---|---|---|
| Native status on Puerto Rico | Native, the only one | Introduced |
| Typical size | Smaller | Considerably larger |
| Population trend | Small, sustained by captive breeding | Abundant and expanding |
| Key identifying feature | Raised bony cranial crests | Large parotoid glands, no comparable crests |
| Habitat tolerance | Narrow, specific requirements | Extremely broad and adaptable |
| Relationship to each other | Faces competitive pressure from cane toad | A likely contributor to crested toad decline |
| Conservation status | Critically Endangered | Least Concern |
| Global distribution | Puerto Rico only | Native and introduced ranges worldwide |
Puerto Rican Crested Toad vs Cane Toad: common questions
How exactly does the cane toad threaten the Puerto Rican crested toad?
The introduced cane toad is thought to compete with the native crested toad for similar breeding sites and food resources, and its much larger size and more aggressive, generalist nature likely give it an advantage in direct interactions, adding meaningful competitive pressure to a native species already dealing with habitat loss and a naturally small, restricted population, even though the cane toad was not the sole original cause of the crested toad's decline.
Why is the cane toad found on Puerto Rico if it is native to Central and South America?
The cane toad has been deliberately introduced to numerous regions around the world, including various islands, historically often intended as a form of biological pest control targeting agricultural insect pests, and it has proven remarkably successful at establishing itself well beyond its native range, including on Puerto Rico, due to its broad habitat tolerance and highly adaptable, opportunistic biology.
How can you tell the two toads apart if you see one on Puerto Rico?
The Puerto Rican crested toad has distinctive raised, bony crests on the head that give it its common name, a feature the cane toad lacks in the same form, and the cane toad is also considerably larger overall with prominent large parotoid glands behind the eyes, so size and the presence or absence of head crests together offer a reasonably reliable way to distinguish the increasingly rare native species from its far more common introduced counterpart.