Chuanbei Toothed Toad vs Leatherback Sea Turtle

Oreolalax chuanbeiensis compared with Dermochelys coriacea

Key Differences

• Chuanbei Toothed Toad is Endangered while Leatherback Sea Turtle is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Chuanbei Toothed Toad	Leatherback Sea Turtle
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Amphibia (Amphibians)	Reptilia (Reptiles)
Order	Anura (Frogs & Toads)	Testudines (Turtles & Tortoises)
Family	Megophryidae	Cheloniidae (Sea Turtles)
Genus	Oreolalax	Chelonia (Green Sea Turtles)
Species	Oreolalax chuanbeiensis	Dermochelys coriacea

Evolutionary Relationship

Chuanbei Toothed Toad and Leatherback Sea Turtle share a common ancestor at the Phylum level: Chordata. (Chordates)

Conservation Status

Chuanbei Toothed Toad

EN — Endangered

Leatherback Sea Turtle

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~35.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Chuanbei Toothed Toad	Leatherback Sea Turtle
Diet	—	Carnivore
Average Lifespan	—	50 years
Average Length	—	2.0 m
Average Weight	—	500.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Chuanbei Toothed Toad

Habitat

Typically found in freshwater habitats, moist forests, and wetlands.

Leatherback Sea Turtle

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 5 distinct biome types spanning the Australasia and Indomalayan and Neotropic realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Costa Rica, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Trinidad and Tobago. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Chuanbei Toothed Toad

The Chuanbei Toothed Toad (Oreolalax chuanbeiensis) is an Endangered amphibian endemic to the mountains of northern Sichuan Province in southwestern China. It belongs to the family Megophryidae, a diverse group of litter frogs and toad-like amphibians that is particularly species-rich in the eastern Himalayan and southwestern Chinese highlands. The species name chuanbeiensis refers to northern Sichuan (Chuanbei), reflecting its highly restricted geographic range. Like other Oreolalax species, the Chuanbei Toothed Toad is associated with cold, fast-flowing mountain streams, where larvae develop in torrent conditions that require specialized morphological adaptations including oral suckers. Adults are terrestrial outside the breeding season, sheltering in leaf litter and rocky crevices in montane forest. The IUCN has assessed this species as Endangered due to its small known range, ongoing habitat degradation from logging, agriculture, and infrastructure development in mountain areas, and the impacts of chytridiomycosis (amphibian chytrid fungal disease) which threatens Asian megophryid frogs. Limited survey data mean that the species' full extent of occurrence and population size are poorly constrained.

Leatherback Sea Turtle

The leatherback is the largest living turtle and the fourth-heaviest reptile. Unlike other turtles, it has a soft, leathery shell.