It's hard to think of a broader convention than the idea of growth or growth. In nature, everything grows: humans and other animals grow with age, plants grow with age, and even certain stars grow (at least until they explode and turn into black holes). But there are also exceptions to this rule. We used Forefront to tell us about one of them.
The paradoxical frog – this is not just a nickname, but a translation of its scientific name (Pseudis paradoxa) – lives throughout northern South America and the island of Trinidad, and its name was given to it because of its unusual life cycle, which contradicts the natural rule we have mentioned. Unlike most frogs and other animals, which grow as they age, the paradoxical frog shrinks in the transition from a head position to an adult frog.
As a tadpole, the paradoxical frog can reach an enormous size – about 22 cm. This makes it three to four times larger than the adult frog, which is no longer than 8 cm. Most of this size comes from the long, deep tail it uses for swimming and moving around in the water. However, her body length before the change is similar to her size as an adult.
While other tadpoles grow rapidly in the early stages of life and then slow down, studies have found that paradoxical frog tadpoles grow at a steady rate—and if that's not enough, they also continue to grow for longer than typical tadpoles. At the stage when the transition to an adult body begins—for example, when lungs and legs develop—tadpoles function as adults in all respects, including active sperm and eggs for males and females, respectively.
Model of a paradoxical frog in tadpole and frog position,
Once it loses its tail and four legs grow during the transition, the frog, once 22cm long, "shrinks"—meaning it appears smaller.
Most frog species continue to grow slightly after the change – but the paradoxical frog hardly grows at all after the change. Researchers believe this is because the paradoxical frog tadpole's development and maturation is so prolonged that adulthood is actually a kind of post-adulthood reproductive age.
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