Are Tadpoles Always As Harmless As They Seem?

Not always. The tadpoles of most frogs are fairly harmless and are prone to being gobbled up by many predators as they struggle to survive and mature in ponds and pools. The fact that so many eggs are produced in frog spawn gives a good clue that many do not survive to become adult frogs.

Some toad tadpoles are a bit different. They can fight back. Like their parents, which secrete a toxic substance into their skin to fend off predators, the tadpoles also secrete a toxic fluid that puts other amphibians off trying to eat them.

Female toads still lay an enormous number of eggs though – between 4000 and 7000 at one go – so the poison strategy must have only limited success. To help further with their survival, toad tadpoles also often resort to a pack strategy – they move around the pond in close clumps so that they resemble a larger creature. Many tadpoles obviously do survive as there are 339 species of true toads in existence today.

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