A Guide to the Amphibians
and Reptiles of California

Click on a picture for a larger view

Eggs and Tadpoles of
Great Basin Spadefoot - Spea intermontana

(Cope, 1883)


Two mature eggs attached to a small branch which was found submerged in shallow water.		Hatchling tadpole

Hatchling tadpole	Tadpole several days after hatching.	Older tadpole

Mature tadpole with back legs developing	Mature tadpole

Mature tadpole		Mature tadpole with developed back legs

Transforming tadpole with tail decreasing in length and front legs developed (and visible) but not yet emerged. The front legs emerged one day later and the spadefoot moved to land (first picture of the following series).

After Leaving the Water to Live on Land
The following series of pictures show a recently-metamorphosed spadefoot (one of the tadpoles shown above) as it absorbs its tail over a period of 7 consecutive days, beginning with the first day it began living on land.

Metamorph, Day 1	Metamorph, Day 2	Metamorph, Day 3

Metamorph, Day 4	Metamorph, Day 5	Metamorph, Day 6

Metamorph, Day 7	Fully-metamorphosed juvenile, Day 15	Recently-transformed juvenile

The spade on the hind foot is barely present when the tadpole leaves the water and gradually gets larger and darker.

Metamorph, Day 4	Metamorph, Day 5	Adult