Frog Life Cycle
The female species of frog has the ability to lay thousands of eggs at one time. These are laid in damp places and are seen floating in clusters called frog spawn. Each egg, which is a solitary cell, is enveloped with a jelly like slippery substance that aids in its protection. However, the bigger the spawn, the greater are its chances of its survival from predators. |
Ducks, fish and insects are some of the common predators of these eggs. Life begins with a solitary cell, which on development undergoes mitosis or duplication of cells from 1 to 2 to 4 and there on. As cell division progresses, a mass of cells are produced that eventually forms an embryo, a stage that lasts for twenty-one days. At this stage, the embryo derives nutrition from the internal yolk. Gradually, development of the organs and gills commence within the embryo.
After the 21 days time span, the embryo emerges out of its shell. Thereafter, the embryo fixes itself to a weed. Very soon, the embryo transforms into a baby frog called tadpole. The tadpole could take anything from three days to three weeks to move independently in water, the time of maturation influenced by the species. Characterized by a long tail, tadpoles swim in water and feed on algae.
Within a time frame of about 5 weeks, certain transformations can be observed in the body of the tadpole that makes it seem more like a frog. Some of these changes are growth of hind and then fore limbs, appearance of bulges behind the head, shortening of the tail and development of the lungs.
Gradually nature ensures that the animal is well equipped to survive on land. Roughly at about 11 weeks after the laying of the egg, a fully mature frog develops from it with presence of lungs and legs and devoid of its tail. In due course of time, each frog finds its mate and the life cycle begins yet again.
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