Tadpole

From Freepedia

For other uses, see Tadpole (disambiguation).

Image:Tadpoles 10 days.JPG Image:Wrinkledfrog embryos.jpg A tadpole (also known as a pollywog) is a larval frog, toad, salamander, or newt. In this stage it breathes by means of external or internal gills, is at first lacking legs, and has a finlike tail. As a tadpole matures, it metamorphoses by gradually growing limbs and then (in the case of frogs and toads) absorbing its tail. Most tadpoles are herbivorous, subsisting on algae. In a few species, some tadpoles turn cannibalistic under harsh conditions and feed on other tadpoles living in the pond.

Also see

• 1953 in Timeline of underwater technology