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)
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| Two mature eggs attached to a small branch which was found submerged in shallow water. |
Hatchling tadpole, 1 day after hatching (two days after the eggs to the left were photographed.) | |
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| Hatchling tadpole, Day 1 | Tadpole, Day 1 | Tadpole, Day 14 |
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| Tadpole with back legs developing, Day 24 |
Tadpole, Day 24 |
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| Maturing tadpole, Day 30 | Mature tadpole with developed back legs, Day 38 |
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| Transforming tadpole, Day 38, 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). |
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| 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, 39 days after hatching. |
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| Metamorph, Day 1 | Metamorph, Day 2 | Metamorph, Day 3 |
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| Metamorph, Day 4 | Metamorph, Day 5 | Metamorph, Day 6 |
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| 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. | ||
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| Metamorph, Day 4 | Metamorph, Day 5 | Adult |
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