Stages and development of

Frogs
Scientific Classification

 Kingdom: Animalia

 Phylum: Chordata

 Class: Amphibia

 Subclass: Lissamphibia

 Order: Anura
 A Frog's Life

 A frog starts off as an egg.

 After a short time it has grown into a fully grown frog.

 Stages of Frog Development
Age Picture Information

Egg The female lays eggs in the spring. A group of fertilized eggs is called spawn.

They feed on the remaining yolk which is actually in its gut. Their gills,
Tadpole
mouth and tail have poorly developed. They begin to swim and feed on
7-10 Days
algae.

A layer of skin grows over their gills. Little teeth begin to appear. A coiled
4 Weeks
gut starts to develop This helps them to digest food.

Their legs begin to grow and their head is more distinct. They start to eat
6-9 Weeks
insects and bulge in their daily diet. Arms begin to grow, elbow first.

12 Weeks It now looks more like a frog, but still has a stubby tail

They are now fully developed and spending most of their life out of the
20 Weeks
water eating a carnivorous diet. Most frogs live between 4 - 15 years.
COURTSHIP
 AMPLEXUS

 A form of copulation in which the male amphibian

grasps the female by her “waist” or neck with his
front legs as a part of the mating process

 Usually occurs aquatically

 Can last for days

AMPLEXUS
 EGG

 The fertilized eggs of a frog.

 The blobs inside the eggs.

 protected in a bag of jelly.
 Spawn (egg-mass)
• While in the amplexus
position, the male frog
fertilizes the eggs as
they get are laid.

• Some frogs leave after

this point, but others
stick around to watch
over the little ones.
 Eggs that die turn
opaque
 Frogs tend to lay
eggs single eggs in
masses, whereas
toads usually lay
eggs in long chains
 Usually, about 6-21
days after being
fertilized, the egg will
hatch.
 Most eggs are found in calm
or static waters

 Other specie lay their eggs on

land
 EXTERNAL
FERTILIZATION
EGGS HATCHING
Tadpole • Shortly after hatching, the
tadpole still feeds on the
remaining yolk, which is actually
in its gut

• The tadpole at this point consists

of poorly developed gills, a
mouth, and a tail. It's really
fragile at this point.
 TADPOLE
• They usually will
stick themselves to
floating weeds or
grasses in the water
using little sticky
organs between its'
mouth and belly area.

•Then, 7 to 10 days
after the tadpole has
hatched, it will begin
to swim around and
feed on algae.
 TADPOLE
•The tadpoles get teeny
tiny teeth which help
them grate food turning it
into soupy oxygenated
particles.

•They have long coiled

guts that help them digest
as much nutrients from
their meager diets as
possible.
 TADPOLE

After about 4
weeks, the gills
start getting
grown over by
skin, until they
eventually
disappear.
 TADPOLE
By the fourth
week, tadpoles can
actually be fairly
social creatures.
Some even interact
and school like fish
TADPOLE WITH
LEGS • After about 6 to 9 weeks,
little tiny legs start to sprout.

• The head becomes more

distinct and the body
elongates.
TADPOLE
WITH LEGS
•By now the diet
may grow to
include larger
items like dead
insects and even
plants.
•The arms will
begin to bulge
where they will
eventually pop
out, elbow first.
 TADPOLE
WITH LEGS
•After about 9
weeks, the tadpole
looks more like a
teeny frog with a
really long tail.
 Young Frog, or Froglet

 By 12 weeks, the tadpole has

only a teeny tail stub and
looks like a miniature version
of the adult frog.

 Soon, it will leave the water,

only to return again to
laymore eggs and start the
process all over again!
Frog • By between 12 to 16 weeks,
depending on water and food
supply, the frog has completed the
full growth cycle.

• Some frogs that live in higher

altitudes or in colder places might
take a whole winter to go through
the tadpole stage...others may have
unique development stages that vary
from your "traditional" tadpole-in-
the-water type life cycle.

• Now these frogs will start the whole

process again...finding mates and
creating new froggies.
 FROG DEVELOPMENT

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