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Last Modified 05/5/10
Life of a Frog
- Mating
- Spawn
- Eggs
- Tadpole
- Tadpole with Legs
- Froglet
- Frog
Mating
Most frogs breed in the water. They mate with the male
clasping the female in an embrace called amplexus. Amplexus
is when the male grasps the female around her groin or armpits with
his front legs. During mating season, male frogs get
nuptial pads or spikes on their hands. These assist with
the grasping of the female when mating and are shed when the skin
is later moulted. The pads appear as tiny black spots
to the naked eye.
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Spawn
While still in amplexus, the male fertilizes the eggs as they
leave the female's body. The eggs are surrounded by a
jelly like material which protects them when they hit the water. Frog
spawn is generally laid in a mass, whereas toads lay their eggs
in long, thin chains. Some spawn will remain on the water
surface while others will eventually sink to the bottom of the water.
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Eggs
Frogs tend to lay a large number of eggs as there are lots of
perils they must face before becoming frogs. Frog eggs
are generally laid in still waters so that the eggs are not disturbed
before hatching. Frog eggs start off with the centre
yolk splitting into two, then four, eight, sixteen, etc...
After a short period of time, the egg begins to take on the shape
of a tadpole and will then hatch into a tadpole.
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Tadpole
After hatching, the tadpole consists of gills, a mouth and a tail. They
mainly feed on decaying plant matter. If you want to
feed tadpoles, you can feed them boiled lettuce. It is
recommended that you boil the lettuce for at least 15 minutes and
then allow it to cool. One often used trick is to boil
a batch of lettuce and then freeze the lettuce in ice cube trays. You
can then add a lettuce cube whenever your tadpoles require food. This
is normally every 1-3 days. If you overfeed tadpoles,
the water will become dirty very quickly. Underfeeding
tadpoles can lead to them feeding off each other.
Weather conditions can affect the growth rate of your tadpoles. When
it is warm, they will grow rapidly, but when it's cold, it can take
weeks longer. Tadpoles can even stop growing during Winter.
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Tadpole with Legs
Tadpoles legs all grow at the same time. The hind legs
however emerge before the front legs. One of the frogs
front legs will emerge from a gill slit whereas the other will emerge
through its skin on the other side of the body. As their
legs begin to grow, they start to take on the shape of frogs. Their
head becomes more defined and the body starts to take shape. Soon,
the tadpole looks like a small frog with a tail.
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Froglet
By this stage the tail has almost disappeared. Your
frog looks like a small frog with a stump where his/her tail was. Frogs
absorb their tails. They do not just fall
off.
Your froglet will emerge from the pond and start to eat small
insects. It becomes carnivorous instead of herbivorous. It
has also started to breathe with lungs instead of gills now.
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Frog
At the end of the life cycle, you have the frog. Frogs
will feed off of larger insects with some species, such as Green
Tree Frogs eating cockroaches and mice. NATURES INSECTICIDE!!
Frogs then go about their lives trying not to fall prey to predators
such as birds, snakes, cats and other frogs. All being
well, they return to start the next life cycle all over again.
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