The Life Cycle of Frogs
Frogs are amphibians, which means that they are cold-blooded animals and have wet skin. Most
of their time is spent near water, such as ponds, so that they can keep their skin moist. Frogs go
through metamorphosis in a life cycle that can be split into different stages.
Frogspawn
Frogs begin life as frogspawn, or eggs. Frogspawn is made up of lots
of frog eggs clumped together. Each egg is made up of an embryo
surrounded by a ball of clear jelly. Over a few days, the embryos get
longer and bigger until they turn into tadpoles.
Tadpoles
Tadpoles start off with a tiny head and a tail. Once these have
grown, the tadpoles hatch by pushing their way out of the jelly.
They have gills for breathing underwater and start to feed on
algae. After several weeks, their legs develop and they begin to
feed on insects, too. Finally, they grow lungs and swim to the
surface to breathe.
Froglets
At 12 weeks old, a froglet looks much more like an adult frog, as
its tail becomes shorter, and it uses its webbed back feet to swim. It
has lost its gills and breathes through its lungs and through its skin.
After 15 weeks, a froglet’s tail has completely disappeared and all
it must do now is to grow to adult size (and avoid being eaten by
other animals, such as fish and snakes).
Adult Frog
The froglet continues to grow for six months, until it is
much bigger. Adult frogs feed on insects, worms, spiders,
and slugs. In the cold winter, they hibernate, and in
spring, when it gets warmer again, they wake up. At two
years old, they try to find a mate and lay new frogspawn.
That’s when the cycle starts all over again.
Summary
In summary, the life cycle of a frog has four main stages: frogspawn, tadpole, froglet, and adult.
Although we describe the life cycle of the frog in stages, the frog continually and gradually
changes from day to day throughout all of these stages.