# Frogs that Have no Tadpole Stage



## herper99

I thought this was cool. I know it's old, but one of my former students is working with them at Duchense University and I thought I would share.

Newly hatched Puerto Rican tree frogs are so small that several fit on a dime. The eggs are laid on land and develop directly into frogs. 

Cover Photo ? March 14, 2000, 97 (6) ? PNAS


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## moothefrog

Very cool. The same thing sort of happens with Ceratobatrachus guentheri.


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## Marinarawr

Interesting! I'd like to know how long it takes for these guys to hatch (I'm assuming that they stay encased in the egg until they've morphed out.) I'd also like to see the eggs...


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## Julio

very cool, i love the ones taht develop in the egg and then just hatch out as froglets.


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## herper99

I should have added this the first time, but here is the direct link to the article abstract.

http://www.pnas.org/content/97/6/2615


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## melas

Cool link Chris!


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## bellerophon

Marinarawr said:


> Interesting! I'd like to know how long it takes for these guys to hatch (I'm assuming that they stay encased in the egg until they've morphed out.) I'd also like to see the eggs...


Heres some guentheri pics

Solomon Island Leaf Frog on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Almost Done on Flickr - Photo Sharing!


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## crw.dft

I also noticed that that was a canadian dime, just a little bit smaller than an american dime. those froglets are tiny!


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## bellerophon

tiny is an understatement. Here's one I had pulled that was probably a few days post hatch.


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## melas

UNREAL! Great shot Lee!


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## Philsuma

Florida common invasive species...._Eleutherodactylus planirostris, _The Greenhouse frog.

Tiny...cool...no tad stage...

Possibly the PR Coqui as well...

Coqui & greenhouse frogs: alien Caribbean frogs in Hawaii


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## boricorso

Im one of the lucky ones that gets to see a few coqui every night. Ill try to find some pictures or work on guetting some. 

A few weeks ago I was following a pair that I saw go into one of my bromeliads and for about 2 weeks I could see the parents guarding the eggs. I was hoping to see the younglings hatch but sadly I missed it.

Some seem to hatch in a period of about 2 weeks up to about a month. I have also seen hatchlings a lot smaller than the ones in the pictures. Depends on the type of coqui. All hatch entirely morphed with the exception of a very tiny tail.

I wont promise any pictures but if I find any Ill post them....I could also try to get some but my camera is not very good and most of the memory space is taken by my to tadpoles. My wife cannot stop taking pictures of them. Then there is also the timing btween spotting one, running to get the camera and trying to get a good picture. We need some of you experinced photgraphers down here to take a good picture.

Marcos


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## ggazonas

Coquis defintily go from egg to froglet


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## Anoleo2

bellerophon said:


> tiny is an understatement. Here's one I had pulled that was probably a few days post hatch.


I can't even fathom how small that is... and I'm holding a pencil! :|


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## hr220a

I got a large guzmana brom from the depot once and a super tiny frog jumped out of it and real quick hopped under my dishwasher before I could catch or ID it. It looked EXACTLY like that puerto rican tree frog and was the right size. I wonder...


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## Brian Ferriera

Anoleo2 said:


> I can't even fathom how small that is... and I'm holding a pencil! :|


Thier needs to be a tic-tac in their for reference ..makes a retic look like a giant
Brian


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## Marinarawr

Wow! Thanks for the links and photos bellerophon . Those are some seriously cool frogs. Do the hatchlings feed on springtails or do you have to find something even tinier?


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## bellerophon

springtails are fine, you can even get away with pinhead crickets. They're ferocious eaters. The biggest problem is finding and removing them before the parents go plopping around all night on them.


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## flyangler18

Lee,

Are those guentheri part of your collection or part of the Zoo's?

Spectacular shot as usual.


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## bellerophon

flyangler18 said:


> Lee,
> 
> Are those guentheri part of your collection or part of the Zoo's?
> 
> Spectacular shot as usual.


Thanks Jason, those pics are from the zoo, I have some at home as well though.


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## MonarchzMan

All of the species in the _Eleutherodactylus_ genus (well, until they were split up a year or so ago) have direct development. It's one of the synapomorphies of the genus (I can't remember what they've changed to as far as family or subfamily, but I'd guess that it's a synapomorphy of that).


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## Nate

I'm assuming that they are in the pet trade? If they are I'm putting them on my wish list! That is just amazing...


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## ghettopieninja

I have wanted coquis for a while now, did yours come from the zoo bellerophon? I guess there is not much demand for them since their invasive in some areas. A couple weeks ago I had to pull some out of their enclosure at the zoo I work at, they started with seven in a rather large enclosure and now have like 40+, however most of these have gotten out and just kinda hang out in one of the back areas and have also gotten into other tanks lol.


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## bellerophon

I actually dont keep coqui, just guentheri.


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## troy255

I wish I could find greenhouse frogs for sale.


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## boricorso

ghettopieninja said:


> I have wanted coquis for a while now, did yours come from the zoo bellerophon? I guess there is not much demand for them since their invasive in some areas. A couple weeks ago I had to pull some out of their enclosure at the zoo I work at, they started with seven in a rather large enclosure and now have like 40+, however most of these have gotten out and just kinda hang out in one of the back areas and have also gotten into other tanks lol.


For coqui buy some bromeliads from the island and you will probably get lucky. Im lucky to have many roaming around my house and love the way the all have their diferent calls. 

Coqui tend to be very shy and probably not the best frog to house in a vivarium since they can be very hard to spot specially in the daytime. At night they will probably keep you up unless you are like me and 99% or Puertoricans that love the calling.

Pardon my ignorance, but other than Hawaii where else are Coquii considered invasive?


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## troy255

boricorso said:


> For coqui buy some bromeliads from the island and you will probably get lucky. Im lucky to have many roaming around my house and love the way the all have their diferent calls.
> 
> Coqui tend to be very shy and probably not the best frog to house in a vivarium since they can be very hard to spot specially in the daytime. At night they will probably keep you up unless you are like me and 99% or Puertoricans that love the calling.
> 
> Pardon my ignorance, but other than Hawaii where else are Coquii considered invasive?


Also Florida.


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## boricorso

Ahh!!

Didn't know that. i lived in Jacksonvile close to 3 years and travel a lot to florida and never heard that they were considered an invasive specie there. Always heard about the cuban tree forg. 

To the best of my knowledge coqui do not even do that well in other caribbean islands but that could probably be due to predation.

Well there you go...one learns something new everyday.

Thanks fo rthe info I'll try to look more into it.


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## Philsuma

The Greenhouse frog is quite literally everywhere in Florida and into Georgia.

The Coqui is well established in the Miami Dade and northern Broward counties...no need to buy P.R Broms...lol

In HI...I have heard that real estate agents are required to disclose the fact the Coqui frogs are on the land of a house they are selling.....because they are so loud, they actually lower property values!

With all the rain in SoFl lately.......the cacophony from the roadside canals can be heard over even the loudest of "fast and furious" mufflers.


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## boricorso

Philsuma said:


> The Greenhouse frog is quite literally everywhere in Florida and into Georgia.
> 
> The Coqui is well established in the Miami Dade and northern Broward counties...no need to buy P.R Broms...lol
> 
> In HI...I have heard that real estate agents are required to disclose the fact the Coqui frogs are on the land of a house they are selling.....because they are so loud, they actually lower property values!
> 
> With all the rain in SoFl lately.......the cacophony from the roadside canals can be heard over even the loudest of "fast and furious" mufflers.


Yes in hawaii they seem to be causing quite a bit of a scandal. Im waiting for real estate to hit a major low due to the coqui and move there, lol.

Honestly coqui are loud but in no way are they imposible to live with due to sound. I think in Hawaii they are blowing it out of proportion regarding the sound. as far as it being an invasive specie though something needs to be done about it.

I wonder wich type of coqui is doing so well in Hawaii as well as florida.

Any info would be greatly apreciated.


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## Cole Grover

Many species of frogs have "direct developement", in which the larval stage is completed within the egg membrane. This is also common among Plethodontid salamanders. 



> I wonder wich type of coqui is doing so well in Hawaii as well as florida.


_Eleutherodactylus coqui_ - the "Common" or "Puerto Rican" Coqui. Other species of Eleutherodactylus are common and referred to as "Coqui", also, reinforcing a personal aversion to common names... LOL

-Cole


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