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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.
This is interpreted as an adaptation that allows the tadpoles to cling to the rocks until the tail is almost fully resorbed. [8] In Limnonectes limborgi, the tadpoles are free-living but non-feeding ("nidicolous") and retain their yolk sac until stage 37, at least. [9] Direct-developing frogs hatch directly as froglets, without free-living ...
Smaller tadpoles likely experience greater locomotor activity because their muscle performance and energy metabolism does not sensitively fluctuate due to environmental temperature changes. This adaptation to thermal changes has many ecological advantages, including increasing physiological processes such as digestion and growth for tadpoles.
Tadpoles of N. degiustoi constitute the oldest tadpoles found as of 2024, dating back to 168–161 million years ago. These tadpoles also showed adaptations for filter-feeding, implying residence in temporary pools by filter-feeding larvae was already commonplace. [37] The evolution of modern Anura likely was complete by the Jurassic period.
The evolution of tetrapods began about 400 million years ago in the Devonian Period with the earliest tetrapods evolved from lobe-finned fishes. [1] Tetrapods (under the apomorphy-based definition used on this page) are categorized as animals in the biological superclass Tetrapoda, which includes all living and extinct amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.
The tadpoles take 50 to 75 days to develop to adulthood. [15] In northern parts of its range, it is dormant during the winter, where it remains in well-oxygenated, unfrozen water bodies. [15] The recorded highest altitude of this species is 1000 feet. [24] Southern leopard frogs feed primarily on insects, crayfish, and other invertebrates.
Modern amphibians, which evolved from earlier groups, are generally semiaquatic; the first stages of their lives are as waterborne eggs and fish-like larvae known as tadpoles, and later undergo metamorphosis to grow limbs and become partly terrestrial and partly aquatic.
These frogs begin as eggs laid on land, develop as aquatic tadpoles, then return to land in their adult life stage. After deposition, the eggs take 8–20 days to develop. Tadpoles drop into the water underneath them and are often born when it is raining, which is said to be a camouflage technique.