Timelapse Of Tadpole Egg Goes Viral [Watch]

New life is an everyday miracle that people usually overlook. However, that does not mean it is not beautiful all the same. Thanks to time-lapse photography, people can now see the development cycle of a tadpole. It may not grow up to be an enchanted prince, but it is as real and as beautiful as nature gets.

Sploid reported that the soon-to-be tadpole is a Rana tempraria, which is also known by many as the common frog. The entire video posted on YouTube was filmed over a course of 33 hours. It showed the tadpole egg dividing from what seemed like four cells to around 4 million. The video did not show the tadpoles hatch, though. From the looks of it, it will take a few more days.

Fairy tales show frogs as cursed princes. But even without kissing one, frog species are interesting on their own. For instance, they lay thousands of eggs at a time. However, since they are left to fend for themselves as eggs, nature looks after them by giving the egg jellies an awful taste. This protects them from predators until they are ready to hatch.

Kidzone noted that tadpoles, like fish, are born with gills to help them breathe underwater. They have a big head and long tails that help them swim fast to escape predators hunting them for food. It normally takes a tadpole around 12-16 weeks to grow into an adult frog. However, depending on its kind, the metamorphosis that turns them into adult frogs could take several weeks or months.

According to Tadpole World, these young ones feed like fishes. There is one major difference in their feeding habits, though. They use tongue, like adults, to capture flies and other insects hovering near the ponds where they live. Looking into the mouth of a tadpole could be scary for kids. They are said to have two to four rows of teeth, but these disappear as the tadpoles grow older.

All About Frogs also noted that these amphibians have their own version of very small cone teeth on the upper edge of their jaws, called maxillary teeth, or on the roof of their mouths, which are called vomerine teeth. These teeth are used to hold their prey and keep them in place. Once they have a good grip, they squash their prey by pressing down their eyeballs to swallow their meal.