Tadpole Life Cycle: Curious Facts On Frogs And Toads Explained!

Frogs are amphibians, which means they live in water as well as on land.

These animals have a short body with no tail and often a slimy skin texture. They are also carnivorous in nature.

The scientific name of frogs is Anura, and they belong to the order called 'Salientia'. Frogs can be found in tropical as well as subarctic regions of the world. However, the most concentrated numbers can be found in tropical rainforests. Adult frogs generally eat insects, such as flies, moths, snails, worms, and slugs.

These amphibians include various species that can be distinguished from each other through some characteristic features. In general, a frog's body is short, with forelegs and hind legs.

The front legs are shorter than the back legs. The distinctive long length of the hind legs serves the purpose of aiding the frog in jumping long distances in order to travel or to chase its prey.

Another fascinating feature of frogs is their tongue. Usually, a frog has an unsupported tongue which is also very flexible.

It can grow in length to trap prey. The saliva of a frog is sticky, and its tongue is coated with it so that it can easily latch on to an insect in order to feed. Read on to find out more interesting facts about frogs.

If you find this fun facts article interesting, you might also enjoy reading our articles about white-lipped tree frogs and turtles out of their shells here at Kidadl.

What is the life cycle of a tadpole?

Animals, belonging to any order or family, go through a life cycle. Life cycles consist of various stages in the life of an animal that signify growth.

A life cycle is called this because it moves in a continuous circle of birth, growth, and death. The different stages involved in a life cycle of an animal are also called metamorphosis. In this article, the many stages of a frog's life cycle are explored.

There are, in total, five stages involved in a frog's life cycle. Stage one is the egg in its initial stage. During this stage, adult frogs lay their eggs in a pond.

Female frogs lay around 4,000 fertilized frog eggs at one time. The frog eggs float on the surface of the pond water in a jelly mass. These eggs stay in a cluster together until they start hatching.

Stage two is the tadpole, where a curious metamorphosis takes place. In this stage, the eggs hatch to make way for the tadpoles to get out into the water. A tadpole looks like a fish more than a frog.

Tadpoles do not have any legs. However, they have a tail which they use to swim in the water of a pond. Tadpoles are still developing their respiratory system and cannot survive on land.

Thus, they stay in the water and breathe through gills. This is similar to how fish breathe in water. During this stage of the life cycle of a frog, tadpoles usually eat the algae found in the water.

Stage three is the froglet stage. As the name of the stage suggests, it is when a tadpole grows into a froglet. A tadpole becomes a froglet when it develops hind legs.

The hind legs are the first limbs that tadpoles develop. Thus, instead of just swimming, a tadpole or froglet can now also leap through the water.

Another significant development that takes place during this stage of the life cycle of a frog is the development of lungs. Tadpoles or froglets start to develop lungs for the time when they need to breathe on land. However, they still live in the water and possess a long tail.

Stage four is where a tadpole transforms into a young frog. During this stage, a froglet turns into a young frog by developing front legs.

The long tail of a young frog becomes shorter in this stage until the only evidence of the tail ever existing is just a stub of it at the rear end of the body of the young frog. Moreover, the long tail serves another purpose during the course of this stage.

There are nutrients stored in the length of the tail, and this is what provides nourishment to the young frog.

Until the tail completely disappears, the nutrients present in it are the only things needed by the young frog to eat. As soon as the young frog develops all its limbs, it leaps through the water and onto land.

Stage five is the last stage in the life cycle of a frog. This is where a young frog becomes an adult frog. It is in this stage that the tail completely disappears.

The frog takes quite a long time to become an adult. Moreover, a frog's diet changes too.

While a tadpole and froglet eat algae and other plants present in the water, adult frogs eat various kinds of insects. When an adult frog reaches maturity, it reproduces and lays eggs. Tadpoles hatch to begin the life cycle of a frog once again.

How long is a tadpole's life cycle?

Each metamorphosis or stage of the life cycle of a frog needs a certain amount of time to be carried out. No one stage can take place in just a moment, and each stage has to be preceded by the previous stage in order.

If even one stage of the life cycle of a frog is disrupted for any reason, then the whole thing gets affected.

As mentioned above, there are five distinct stages in a frog's life cycle. Each stage involves certain developments of a frog.

Depending on the type and level of development taking place, each stage of the life cycle of a frog needs a corresponding amount of time to complete.

During stage one (egg), the frog eggs take around three weeks or 21 days to hatch. In stage two (tadpole), the very initial form of frogs, the tadpoles, hatch from eggs, and for a period of one or two weeks, they stay close to the remains of the egg and consume the nutrients from the yolk.

After spending several weeks developing in the form of tadpoles and living in the water, the frog then transforms into a froglet, where it develops lungs and hind legs. They still use gills for breathing in the water and consuming algae.

The frogs then develop their front legs, and their tail becomes shorter for a few weeks until the froglet turns into a young frog. The young frog then takes a few years, that is two to four years, to become an adult frog.

How long does it take for a tadpole to turn into a frog?

Tadpoles are the very initial form of frogs after the hatching of eggs. There are various stages in between the time that a tadpole becomes a frog.

Between the form of tadpoles and an adult frog, there are the stages of the froglet and young frog. Tadpoles transform into adult frogs by developing legs to move on land, losing their tails, and developing lungs to breathe on land.

Tadpoles lose their gills when they become frogs. Instead of the gills, frog's skin helps these amphibians to breathe underwater.

The time it takes for a tadpole to become a frog can be up to 14 weeks. The life cycle of a frog then continues when the female frog lays eggs, and they hatch.

Why are my tadpoles not turning into frogs?

The species of frogs are oviparous animals, which means they lay eggs. These eggs hatch to release tadpoles that then grow and develop into frogs.

The life cycles of animals, in general, are a process that needs time and nourishment. However, there are times when the metamorphosis of an animal can be affected by many factors, leading to various significant changes.

There are changes during the life cycle of a frog where a tadpole might not grow into a frog.

This usually happens due to a genetic abnormality. When a tadpole doesn't have the gene that produces thyroxine, which is a growth hormone, it will not develop into a frog and remain as a tadpole.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our tadpole life cycle facts on frogs and toads, then why not take a look at our articles about paper wasps vs. yellow jackets or oxen vs. cows?