62/100: Tadpoles
It's childhood wonder that makes me love tadpoles. Just their name is adorable. Tadpole! Poliwag! Frogs are cute in their own right, but man do I love tadpoles!!
When I was little, my family would go to various ponds and lakes. Using a garden rake, we'd rake up the tangled muddy mess of plant and mineral matter which rims the edges and floors of such bodies of water. Wriggling inside of the sludgy wet mess were tadpoles!!! They were often large enough to hold in the hand, around the size of a pecan nut (maybe a bit bigger). They were slimy and round and cold and squishy and I loved them.
The ones I caught looked a lot like this. Apparently these are baby bullfrogs!
We did it at different times and observed the tadpole in various stages of metamorphosis. My favorite stage is when they're sprouting tiny back legs!!!
Wikipedia says that the tadpole can sprout nearly fully developed front and hind legs in a mere 24 hours!! Talk about a growth spurt! Talk about growing pains!
Tadpoles are also very cute when they're nearly fully developed frogs. They have little tails!
Tadpoles can live in a wide range of homes. In my area, tadpoles of different species are found in muddy watery ditches, ponds, lakes, streams, and even rain puddles. I remember jogging one time after extensive rains, and seeing a huge puddle with probably one hundred tiny tadpoles. I was so sad when the puddle started drying up. I hope all those tadpoles survived!
Tadpoles in the rainforest grow on leaves! Water collects on leaves or even inside flowers, and eggs are laid inside! Wouldn't it be so magical and awesome to peek inside a big flower and see tadpoles swimming in the water inside? Some tadpoles even live on mom's back!
These little guys are hanging out on the underside of a leaf! They're so small they still have their egg yolk to snack on.
It's so amazing how quickly tadpoles transform. As tadpoles, they have gills and tails. Limbs sprout over a day or two, tails are reabsorbed, gills are closed, and lungs develop. Lungs can develop right before the tadpole is ready to leave the water. It's really important they have a way to climb out of the water, because they change so quickly that they can drown!
Tadpoles are so neat!
When I was little, my family would go to various ponds and lakes. Using a garden rake, we'd rake up the tangled muddy mess of plant and mineral matter which rims the edges and floors of such bodies of water. Wriggling inside of the sludgy wet mess were tadpoles!!! They were often large enough to hold in the hand, around the size of a pecan nut (maybe a bit bigger). They were slimy and round and cold and squishy and I loved them.
The ones I caught looked a lot like this. Apparently these are baby bullfrogs!
We did it at different times and observed the tadpole in various stages of metamorphosis. My favorite stage is when they're sprouting tiny back legs!!!
Wikipedia says that the tadpole can sprout nearly fully developed front and hind legs in a mere 24 hours!! Talk about a growth spurt! Talk about growing pains!
Tadpoles are also very cute when they're nearly fully developed frogs. They have little tails!
Tadpoles can live in a wide range of homes. In my area, tadpoles of different species are found in muddy watery ditches, ponds, lakes, streams, and even rain puddles. I remember jogging one time after extensive rains, and seeing a huge puddle with probably one hundred tiny tadpoles. I was so sad when the puddle started drying up. I hope all those tadpoles survived!
Tadpoles in the rainforest grow on leaves! Water collects on leaves or even inside flowers, and eggs are laid inside! Wouldn't it be so magical and awesome to peek inside a big flower and see tadpoles swimming in the water inside? Some tadpoles even live on mom's back!
These little guys are hanging out on the underside of a leaf! They're so small they still have their egg yolk to snack on.
It's so amazing how quickly tadpoles transform. As tadpoles, they have gills and tails. Limbs sprout over a day or two, tails are reabsorbed, gills are closed, and lungs develop. Lungs can develop right before the tadpole is ready to leave the water. It's really important they have a way to climb out of the water, because they change so quickly that they can drown!
Tadpoles are so neat!