Life Cycle of a Frog
What is the Life Cycle of a Frog?
Animal Life Cycle: The life cycle of an animal shows how they grow and change over time.
Life Cycle of a Frog -
Most animals such as mammals, fish, reptiles and birds have very simple life cycles. They are simply born/hatched from eggs and grow up. But Amphibians, like frogs, have a more complicated life cycle.
Amphibians mean that they can live in water or on land.
The study of amphibians and reptiles is called Herpetology, and those who study them are called Herpetologists.
What are the 4 Stages of a Frog?
The life cycle of a frog goes through FOUR stages of life. They undergo metamorphosis (changes and grows at each stage). What is Metamorphosis?
➤ Stage 1: Egg
➤ Stage 2: Tadpole
➤ Stage 3: Froglet
➤ Stage 4: Adult Frog
Stage 1: Egg
The Egg is the first phase of the life cycle of a frog. A frog begins life as a fertilized egg. A female frog lays a lot of eggs (thousands of eggs at once) usually in or near water.
Eggs are covered in a jelly-like substance which makes them slippery. The jelly protects them from other animals eating the eggs. Now the eggs are ready to hatch into tadpoles.
Stage 2: Tadpole
Tadpole has no legs, at this point of its life cycle. It breathes using gills and moves like a fish. It uses its long tail to swim. Tadpoles eat small water plants and algae.
During this time, the tadpole begins to have two hind legs and has a long body along with its head. With the help of its two hind legs, it can easily jump around instead of just swimming.
At this stage, the tadpole begins to develop the lungs, so that it can also breathe out of water when it becomes a frog. With all these changes, the tadpole looks a bit more like a small frog.
It takes about 21 days for tadpoles to form.
Stage 3: Froglet
Froglet is the third stage of a frog’s life cycle. In this stage the lungs and two front legs also grow.
Its long tail becomes shorter and shorter. Due to the lungs, the froglet also floats above the water to breathe air.
At this stage of the life cycle, a froglet does not require anything else to eat because it uses the nutrients stored in its tail as food. Now it looks like a young frog.
Stage 4: Adult Frog
The adult frog is the fourth and final stage of the life cycle of a frog. Now it is perfectly fit to leave the water and live on the land. The frog’s tail disappears completely and insects and insects also start eating.
The mother frogs return to the water to lay eggs, and the life cycle of a frog begins again.
Summary - Four Stages of the Life Cycle of a Frog
➤ Stage 1. Egg –
- It is covered in a Jelly-like substance.
➤ Stage 2. Tadpole –
- Tadpole breathes through gills.
- At an early stage, Tadpole has no legs, but later at this stage only it develops two back (hind) legs.
- It has a long tail. With the help of its tail, It swims like a fish.
- Tadpoles eat small water plants and algae.
➤ Stage 3. Froglet –
- Froglet develops two fore(front) legs.
- The Tail of the Froglet shrinks.
- Froglet develops lungs and gills disappear.
- Froglet became a young frog.
➤ Stage 4. Adult Frog –
- It can leave the water and live on the land.
- The frog’s tail disappears completely.
- It starts eating insects.
- The mother frogs lay eggs
Common Frog Facts For Kids
➤ FACT 1. There are over 6,000 species of frogs worldwide.
➤ FACT 2. Frogs were the first land animals with vocal cords.
➤ FACT 3. Frogs don’t need to drink water as they absorb it through their skin.
➤ FACT 4. The goliath frog of West Africa is the largest frog in the world. It can grow to 15 inches and weigh up to 7 pounds.
➤ FACT 5. Toads are frogs. The word “toad” is usually used for frogs that have warty and dry skin, as well as shorter hind legs.
➤ FACT 6. Croaking is used by male frogs to attract females.
➤ FACT 7. Both males and females return to the same breeding grounds year after year.
➤ FACT 8. The bulging eyes of most frogs allow them to see all around like in front, to the sides, and partially behind them.
➤ FACT 9. Many frogs can leap more than 20 times their body length.
➤ FACT 10. The Marsupial Frog keeps her eggs in a pouch like a kangaroo. When the eggs hatch into tadpoles, she opens the pouch with her toes and spills them into the water.
➤ FACT 11. Frogs don’t drink water with their mouths; they “drink” by absorbing water through their skin.
➤ FACT 12. Paedophryne amauensis, the smallest frog in the world, has been discovered in Papua New Guinea by a US-based team. Its size is about 7mm (0.27 inches) long, [Source]
