Green Frog Tadpoles Turning into Frogs – Welcome to a photographic journey through the fields, woods and marshes of New Englandes Turning into Frogs –

Right now the herbivorous, gilled, green frog tadpoles that hatched late last summer and overwintered as tadpoles are turning into carnivorous frogs that breathe with lungs. (Tadpoles that hatched early this spring will metamorphose into frogs in mid-to late summer of this year.) First the hind legs develop, then the front legs, after which the tail is absorbed. At the same time all of this is occurring, the small mouth of the tadpole becomes wider and the long intestines needed to digest algae and other vegetation shorten to accommodate the change to eating insects and other organisms.

Many of the images and much of the information in this blog can be found in my book, Naturally Curious, which is being published this fall.

GREEN FROG TADPOLES TURNING INTO FROGS