Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Most species (e.g. Blyth's river frog L. blythii or the fanged river frog L. macrodon) develop normally, with free-swimming tadpoles that eat food. [5] The tadpoles of the corrugated frog ( L. laticeps ) are free-swimming but endotrophic, meaning they do not eat but live on stored yolk until metamorphosis into frogs. [ 5 ]
A tadpole or polliwog (also spelled pollywog) is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found in adult amphibians such as a lateral line, gills and swimming tails.
Also where the larvae develop into tadpoles and transfer into a terrestrial area. The Houston toad is generally found in areas with loose, sandy soils greater than 40 in (100 cm) in depth and large rolling uplands. Slow-moving or still bodies of water that last at least 30 days are needed for breeding and tadpole development. [16]
After a few days, they become carnivorous and eat animals. [10] Tadpoles sometimes resort to cannibalism to survive. After multiple experiments, Paul Székely, Marian Tudor, and Dan Cogalniceanu concluded that tadpole development is influenced by hydroperiod, or the period in which an area is full of water.
Adults hunt in spring and summer, but only at night or during light rains. Spadefoot tadpoles are dimorphic. Within a cohort, some tadpoles have large mouthparts, while others have much smaller mouthparts. As well as consuming other types of food, large-mouthed individuals are cannibalistic, swallowing other tadpoles whole. [4] [10]
The species is terrestrial, but returns to the water for breeding, where egg masses are laid onto rocks in streams. The quite muscular tadpoles are carnivorous and feature several rows of horned teeth. Adults feed on slugs, myriapods, spiders, beetles, and grasshoppers.
This makes the species even more unique, as PLOS One said, because other frogs that skip the egg step typically give birth to froglets, or baby frogs, but these frogs still give birth to tadpoles.
Thoropa taophora tadpoles are dorsoventrally flat with a tail reaching a max length that makes up 70 percent of the animals total body length. The end of metamorphosis is marked with the total reabsorption of the individual's tail. [2]