REPRODUCTION
Male Reproductive Structures
The male frog and the female frog can be distinguished even by their external morphological characters. The organs concerned with the production of gametes are the principal reproductive organs. The organs concerned with the transport of gametes further from the gonads are called accessory reproductive organs.
In the male frog the principal reproductive organs are a pair of testes and the accessory reproductive
organs are :
1. Vasa Efferentia
2. Bidder's Canal
3. Collecting Tubules
4. Urinogenital Ducts
5. Cloaca
6. Cloacal Aperture
In the male frog the principal reproductive organs are a pair of testes and the accessory reproductive
organs are :
1. Vasa Efferentia
2. Bidder's Canal
3. Collecting Tubules
4. Urinogenital Ducts
5. Cloaca
6. Cloacal Aperture
Female Reproductive Structures
In the female frog the principal reproductive organs are the pair of ovaries and the accessory reproductive organs are :
1. A pair of Oviducts,
2. Cloaca
3. Cloacal Aperture.
1. A pair of Oviducts,
2. Cloaca
3. Cloacal Aperture.
Female Anatomy
Females reach sexual maturity at two years of age. During breeding season, when they want to find a mate, frogs often return to the place where they hatched. Usually,the males arrive first. Each male gasp loudly to establish its own territory.In many species, when the females arrive, the males puff up vocal sacs in their throats and make a special mating call. They wait for females to respond.After a female chooses a male, he climbs onto her back and holds onto her in the water. The females lays her spawn, the male releases his sperm at the same time to fertilize the eggs and, after the adults have left the water, the eggs hatch into tadpoles.
Male Anatomy
Males reached sexual maturity at two years of age, although sometimes they can reach it at only one year of age.There are 13 chromosomes in a frog gamete. In the male frog, the two testes are attached to the kidneys and semen passes into the kidneys through fine tubes called efferent ducts.
DEVELOPMENT
Usually, about 6-21 days after being fertilized, the egg will hatch. When the rain comes along, after development of 7 to 9 days, the foam drips down, dropping tiny tadpoles into the river or pond below.Then, 7 to 10 days after the tadpole has hatched, it will begin to swim around and feed on algae. After about 4 weeks, the gills start getting grown over by skin, until they eventually disappear. The tadpoles get teeny tiny teeth which help them grate food turning it into soupy oxygenated particles.After about 6 to 9 weeks, little tiny legs start to sprout. The head becomes more distinct and the body elongates.After about 9 weeks, the tadpole looks more like a teeny frog with a really long tail.By 12 weeks, the tadpole has only a teeny tail stub and looks like a miniature version of the adult frog. By between 12 to 16 weeks the frog has completed the full growth cycle with a life expectancy of 20 years. Typical Number of offspring is 600 eggs. The evolution of parental care in frogs is driven primarily by the size of the water body in which they breed. Those that breed in smaller water bodies tend to have greater and more complex parental care behaviour.