Frog And Toad - Reproduction And Diet - Encyclopedia Britannica

Egg laying and hatching

Most frogs deposit their eggs in quiet water as clumps, surface films, strings, or individual eggs. The eggs may be freely suspended in the water or attached to sticks or submerged vegetation. Some frogs lay their eggs in streams, characteristically firmly attached to the lee sides or undersides of rocks where the eggs are not subject to the current. The large pond-breeding frogs of the genus Rana and toads of the genus Bufo apparently produce more eggs than any other anurans. More than 10,000 eggs have been estimated in one clutch of the North American bullfrog, L. catesbeianus. The habit of spreading the eggs as a film on the surface of the water apparently is an adaptation for oviposition in shallow temporary pools and allows the eggs to develop in the most highly oxygenated part of the pool. This type of egg deposition is characteristic of several groups of tree frogs, family Hylidae, in the American tropics—one of which, Smilisca baudinii, is known to lay more than 3,000 eggs. Frogs breeding in cascading mountain streams lay far fewer eggs, usually no more than 200.

The problem of fertilization of eggs in rapidly flowing water has been overcome by various modifications. Some stream-breeding hylids have long cloacal tubes so that the semen can be directed onto the eggs as they emerge. Some other hylids have huge testes, which apparently produce vast quantities of sperm, helping to ensure fertilization. Males of the North American tailed frog, Ascaphus truei, have an extension of the cloaca that functions as a copulatory organ (the “tail”) to introduce sperm into the female’s cloaca.

Males of at least three South American species of Hyla build basinlike nests, 25 to 30 cm (10 to 12 inches) wide and 2 to 5 cm (1 to 2 inches) deep, in the mud of riverbanks. Water seeps into the basin, providing a medium for the eggs and young. Calling, mating, and oviposition take place in the nest, and the tadpoles undergo their development in the nest.

Some bufonoid frogs in Leptodactylidae and ranoid frogs in Ranidae and other families build froth nests. The small, toadlike leptodactylids of the genus Physalaemus breed in small, shallow pools. Amplexus is axillary, and the pair floats on the water; as the female exudes the eggs, the male emits semen and kicks vigorously with his hind legs. The result is a frothy mixture of water, air, eggs, and semen, which floats on the water. This meringuelike nest is about 7.5 to 10 cm (3 to 4 inches) in diameter and about 5 cm (2 inches) deep. The outer surfaces exposed to the air harden and form a crust covering the moist interior in which the eggs are randomly distributed. Upon hatching, the tadpoles wriggle down through the decaying froth into the water.