Although tadpoles are often seen as a mere stepping stone for highly jumpable frogs, tadpoles also have some talent. Aquatic tadpoles have been observed jumping out of small pools of water in order to escape predators. Perhaps tadpoles are predisposed to jumping because of all the jumping they are to do in their adult lives. Although semi-terrestrial tadpoles can jump with the help of tiny growing legs, aquatic tadpoles don't have this luxury.
In a study performed by Veronica Thiemi Tsutae de Sousa, Fabricio Barreto Teresa, and Denise de Cerqueira Rossa-Feres titled, "Predation Risk and Jumping Behavior in Pseudopaludicola aff. falcipes Tadpoles" it was confirmed that tadpoles are successful in escaping predators by jumping from tiny puddle to tiny puddle. This is the first time that this behavior has been described for aquatic tadpoles who jump similar to fish jumping out of water. It's pretty amazing that such undeveloped animals as an aquatic tadpole jump out of the water to escape predators.
posted by "Patrick Holmes" (2)
That's pretty neat! This might be an example of how behaviors are innate and don't have to be learned at one point in their lives. In fact, they don't even have the physical assets to jump, but they still are able to do it. Experiments should be done to see if tadpoles isolated from birth are able to do this.
ReplyDeletePosted by Michael Shi
Pat- That's pretty interesting, I wonder how they gain enough momentum to power themselves out of the water..? Also, I'm wondering if this adaptation is seen only in species found in the tropics.. I learned a bit about red-eyed tree frogs last semester, which lay their eggs in clusters on leaves above the water level, and the tadpoles drop into the water upon hatching. It turns out that the tadpoles can actually induce early hatching when eggs nearby are attacked by a predator, yet this mechanism isn't triggered by the vibration of raindrops. I'm wondering if these unique adaptations are only seen in tropical species, where there are so many more natural predators? Either way, there's clearly much to be learned from these strange little metamorphic creatures.
ReplyDeletePosted by Brianna Eddy
It's very interesting that they have enough strength to propel themselves out of the water. You would think that they would need to be taken care more like most young forms of animals. The fact that they know this behavior at such a young age shows that this behavior is an innate behavior and not something that is learned. It will be interesting to see how good a tadpole jumps is dependent on how good their parents are.
ReplyDeletePosted by Jobin
It makes sense that jumping would be an innate behavior because that is the frogs' main mode of transportation. I do not know much at all about the transformation from tadpole to frog but I would be interested to know if the muscles that can propel the tadpole from water eventually turn into the same muscles that frogs jump with. I'm assuming the propulsion from the tail is really what allows the tadpoles to leap from the water and I know the tail disappears as tadpoles turn into frogs. I would be interested to know if frog's that jumped as tadpoles were better jumpers faster than tadpoles that didn't jump. Or perhaps tadpole jumping is a completely isolated jump from how frogs do it.
ReplyDeletelast post Posted by Suzanne Sullivan
ReplyDeleteJust out of curiosity, where are these frogs from? It this a phenomenon that is seen though out all frog tadpoles or just this particular. Did they do any work with the timing for when the genes are expressed during the different time points of the tadpoles transformation to frog?
ReplyDeleteBy Caroline Adams
I think this article helps prove that a lot of behaviors are innate. The tadpoles already have the neural framework set up for jumping ability. I wonder how quickly a frog starts jumping once its legs are fully developed. If a frog starts jumping right away after its legs develop, I think it would prove that the ability is innate and not learned. Also are there any species where the tadpole is observed not to jump but the frog is?
ReplyDeletePosted By Nick Gast
The thing that really surprised me about this was that the tadpoles were actually able to breach the surface of the water. This seems like quite the feat for such a tiny creature. The other thing that struck me was how the tadpole already seems wired to behave like a full grown frog. These animals are programmed to leap all their life.
ReplyDelete-Rhys Ursuliak
I wonder if this also helps tadpoles move to deeper spots of water. If tadpoles are developing in regions of puddles, where some may evaporate more than others, perhaps they can hop to other areas of water from their original pool. I put this out there because this behaviour's for fully aquatic tadpoles so 1) They rely on water and 2) They have no other means of travel.
ReplyDeleteBy Joseph Needleman
Peter: I also find this very interesting for tadpole behavior. I work at PetSmart and sometimes in the comet order we receive tadpoles. I took one home this summer and raised it with some mondo grass with gravel and a little "puddle". It was very large as a tadpole and shrunk when it went through metamorphosis. I later found out that he was a spotted leopard frog, indigenous to New England. So when my family and I went to Maine, I released him back into the wild at Lake Sebeggo. He wasn't the only spotted leopard frog we saw. There were full grown ones too. Seeing the tadpole "evolve" was the coolest part for me/releasing him back in the wild.
ReplyDeleteI find that your information is very interesting because tadpoles adapt to survive. Nature is unique.
Posted by: Em Arsenault
I agree with what Michael said that this is innate mechanism so hard wired in there genetic makeup to escape predator so they can pass on their genes to the next generation that jumping only makes sense to avoid the predator in any way they can. Although it is amazing that something so young and premature as a tadpole could actually process danger and then know enough to avoid it.
ReplyDeleteAndrew Ryan
This is very interesting. When seeing a tadpole jump, one would not automatically think Why is the tadpole performing this action? It is now understood that it is to escape predators. This makes me wonder about the actions of different animals. We usually observe actions and are not exactly sure as to why they do what they do, we just distinguish each animal by their actions. For all we know, when our dogs bark at the neighbor's dog, he is passing on a specific message that we have not discovered, but most of us think they are just barking because they are just a dog!
ReplyDeletePosted by Abbie Saranteas
That's really neat! I wonder why semi-terrestrial tadpoles have tiny undeveloped legs and aquatic tadpoles don't. It seems strange that their development process would vary that much if both will eventually develop legs as adults.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what other senses they have developed by the stage where they can jump- can they see which puddle they are jumping into? How do they know that there is a neighboring puddle that they can reach by jumping?
I wonder if many of the tadpoles misjudge the distance to the puddle and don't make it- are they then able to wriggle their way into the puddle, or are they incapable of moving on land without the help of tiny undeveloped legs?
Posted by Johanna Brophy
Yes, I believe that this behavior is definitely innate. Frog's main form of transportation is jumping and this seems like it is already wired into their brain. Even though they don't seem to have the muscular structure to jump, they find a way to flop from puddle to puddle. I don't know how they do it structurally but it is amazing.
ReplyDeletePosted by Patrick Holmes
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting article. One question that comes to mind when I think tadpoles escaping predators by puddle jumping is how effective is it really at evading a predator? What are these predators and why can they be evaded by something hopping a few inches to another puddle?
ReplyDeletePosted by Michael Thomas
Dear friends,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your interest in our article.
We show that tadpoles are capable of jumping out of small temporary puddles where they occur. In this system, odonate (dragonfly) naiads are the main predators. Experiments demonstrated that jumping behavior occurred more frequently when a predator was present and that tadpoles prevented from jumping were more susceptible to predation. The field study confirmed these results.
In the natural system where the tadpoles are
found, small puddles are located close to each other (1 to 10 centimeters) and are connected by a shallow film of water. By jumping out of water tadpoles can move from one puddle to another (predador free puddle).
We expect that jumping may be an adaptive response of the prey in spatially restricted, high-risk environments as this behavior allows tadpoles to
leave the small puddles.
The following question are being investigated in our lab:
Do tadpoles have adaptations (physiological and morphological) to deal with hypoxia (tadpoles may stay about an hour out of water)?
How do tadpoles recognize predator (they use chemical or mechanical signals)?
Congrats on the very interesting blog!
Best wishes
FabrÃcio
We live in southern CA. and caught a tadpole in a pond. As we drove home with it in a cup, the sucker started jumping! Since I was holding the cup, you can bet I was shocked. I had no idea they could jump, especially without legs. You could almost mistake it for a fish.
ReplyDeleteI have tadpoles in a big plastic box in my garden (frog laid spawn in a small plant saucer).
ReplyDeleteSome of the tadpoles have just started to show legs, but don't seem to be able to use them yet (they are just hanging there, there doesn't seem to be any ability to control them). A large number of tadpoles have been jumping out of the water over the last week and I've lost four tadpoles that have gone over the side and died while I've not been around.
I wanted to let you know as I live in South East England and after reading your posts, thought it might be useful for you. I hope it helps, kind regards Hayley