Tadpole

Tadpoles are the baby forms of frogs and toads. They start their lives in water and look a bit like tiny fish. Tadpoles have tails and gills, which help them swim and breathe underwater.

As tadpoles grow, they change in a process called metamorphosis. They grow legs, develop lungs, and lose their tails. This change lets them live on land as adult frogs or toads. Some frogs carry their tadpoles on their backs until they are ready to live away from their mother.

Tadpoles have been around for millions of years. Scientists have found very old fossils of tadpoles, showing how long these interesting creatures have existed. In some places, tadpoles are even eaten as food, and they appear in stories and symbols from many cultures around the world.

larval stage
biological life cycle
amphibian
fish
metamorphosis
Brevicipitidae
Middle Jurassic
toad
head
Miocene
China
Peru
Wa people
Myanmar