the.com/tadpole
a fish that quits halfway through and reinvents itself as a frog.
means The aquatic larval stage of a frog or toad, with a rounded body and a tail, that swims and breathes by gills before metamorphosing into a four-legged adult.
from From Middle English 'taddepol,' a simple compound of 'tadde' (toad) plus 'pol' (head) — literally 'toad-head,' which is exactly what the creature looks like: a head with a tail attached and the body still pending. That same 'pol' (head) surfaces in 'poll' (a head-count of voters) and 'tadpole' kept its blunt little anatomy lesson intact for centuries.
- vanishing tail
- reabsorbs it for nutrients, not just losing it
- gut swap
- rebuilds intestines from plant-eater to carnivore
- grows lungs
- swims with gills, then learns to breathe air
- toxic crowd
- some release chemicals to stunt rival tadpoles
bullfrog tadpole — larval stage of lithobates catesbeianus, can reach 6 inches before metamorphosis
african clawed frog tadpole — xenopus laevis larvae used extensively in developmental biology research since the 1950s
wood frog tadpole — rana sylvatica tadpoles in northeastern north america can survive being frozen solid in winter