Do Amphibians Have A Social Life?

Amphibians are not really social party animals. They will sometimes collect together in one area where the conditions are most conducive to survival but the animals just crowd together rather than forming an organised social group.

In an area that is usually inhabited by amphibians, each individual has its own space. This may be only a few centimetres square but each one defends its own particular territory from its neighbours and it asserts the right to snaffle any prey that lands in this protected space.

Some groups of toad larvae do show simple social behaviour. They come together because of immediate environmental factors and move around in an irregular formation. Tadpoles near the end of their larval stage may form a simple, coordinated group and will, for example, work together to survive in a pool that is in danger of drying out. They move their tails together to create a groove in the mud to give them the greatest length of time possible before they have no water.