The diagram illustrates the stages of development that a frog passes through during its lifetime.
Overall, the life cycle of frog consists of eight distinct stages, beginning with mating and ending with the development of a mature adult frog. Although the cycle starts and finishes on land, several intermediate stages occur in water, highlighting a transition between aquatic and terrestrial environment.
The process begins when the adult frogs mate on land. This results in the female frog reproducing a cluster of fertilized eggs, known as frogspawn, in the water. The development of the eggs occurs in the aquatic habitat, where they hatch into tadpoles within seven to ten days. The tadpole stage consists of two main phases that reflect the enlargement in their size. Initially, they feed on algae for approximately 6 weeks while continuing to grow in size. Over the next nine weeks they continue to increase in size but remain in tadpole stage.
After this, the tadpole undergoes significant physical transformation over a 12-week period, eventually transforming into a froglet, which marks the completion of its aquatic developmental phase. At this stage, it begins to rely on pulmonary breathing, allowing it to survive on land. Soon after it becomes a young frog and continues to adapt to its terrestrial environment. Ultimately, after spending four years on land, it reaches full maturity as an adult frog, completing the final stage of development before the cycle repeats.