Spring Peeper General Reproduction
Northern Spring Peeper frogs reach sexual maturity around 3 years of age. In the spring of their third year, they will emerge from hibernation. They then migrate to their mating grounds. Spring Peepers mate at the pond in which they were born.[1] Since these are seasonal ponds, there is a large chance that when the peepers go to mate, it will not have formed. In this case, the frogs will not reproduce.
To attract mates, male frogs will produce a call with 90 beats per 4 hours.[2] In order to be heard farther away, the lowest voiced male will begin, and other men will join to form a chorus. Usually, Spring Peepers can be heard in mating season up to a half mile away. Once the female has chosen a suitable mate (commonly one with a slower call, demonstrating their increased age comparatively), they will proceed to the pond, where both the eggs and semen are released. Eggs will be deposited individually or in small clusters. Male frogs will remain on their female's back this entire time to ensure that no other male attempts mating with her.[3] In cases where there are very few females and many males to an area, some females may even drown as various suitors attempt to mount her at the same time. [4]
Frogs have quite simple reproductive structures. Males contain three organs for reproduction: the testes, the urine ducts, and the cloaca. Urine ducts carry sperm (among other substances) from the testes to the cloaca, where it is released. Females contain two organs for reproduction: the ovaries and the oviducts. Within the ovaries, eggs are created and kept. During mating, they are released and carried through oviducts, where they will leave the body.
It is thought that frogs have 26 haploid cells.[5]
[1] http://www.bayjournal.com/article/vernal_ponds_spring_to_life_with_peepers_serenades
[2] http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/2010/rule_kels/reproduction.htm
[3] http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/2010/rule_kels/reproduction.htm
[4] http://www.weehawken.k12.nj.us/weehawken/schools/Roosevelt/304_09/30414/rm30414/science.html
[5] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2140755/
To attract mates, male frogs will produce a call with 90 beats per 4 hours.[2] In order to be heard farther away, the lowest voiced male will begin, and other men will join to form a chorus. Usually, Spring Peepers can be heard in mating season up to a half mile away. Once the female has chosen a suitable mate (commonly one with a slower call, demonstrating their increased age comparatively), they will proceed to the pond, where both the eggs and semen are released. Eggs will be deposited individually or in small clusters. Male frogs will remain on their female's back this entire time to ensure that no other male attempts mating with her.[3] In cases where there are very few females and many males to an area, some females may even drown as various suitors attempt to mount her at the same time. [4]
Frogs have quite simple reproductive structures. Males contain three organs for reproduction: the testes, the urine ducts, and the cloaca. Urine ducts carry sperm (among other substances) from the testes to the cloaca, where it is released. Females contain two organs for reproduction: the ovaries and the oviducts. Within the ovaries, eggs are created and kept. During mating, they are released and carried through oviducts, where they will leave the body.
It is thought that frogs have 26 haploid cells.[5]
[1] http://www.bayjournal.com/article/vernal_ponds_spring_to_life_with_peepers_serenades
[2] http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/2010/rule_kels/reproduction.htm
[3] http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/2010/rule_kels/reproduction.htm
[4] http://www.weehawken.k12.nj.us/weehawken/schools/Roosevelt/304_09/30414/rm30414/science.html
[5] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2140755/
Spring Peeper Development
Frogs experience three stages of development. Initially, the female will lay 750-1300 eggs, which the male fertilizes.[6] These eggs are only 1/200th of an inch, and will remain for 2-3 weeks at the bottom of a vernal pond, slipped under various vegetation.[7] When the eggs hatch, tadpoles emerge. Less than 0.2 inches long, these herbivores eat through a system of oral water filtration. Daily, a single tadpole can filter 12 gallons of water, removing and consuming the blue-green algae within.[8] Depending on weather conditions, the tadpole will remain in this stage for 60-90 days. Then, metamorphosis begins. In this final stage: gills become lungs, legs grow, tail is reabsorbed, intestines shrink* and mouth enlarges**. After fertilization, the father will leave, offering zero parental care. The mother unwittingly nourishes her children through the yolk in her eggs, but otherwise does not care for them.[9]
*,** These changes occur due to the dietary advances made in the Spring Peeper after metamorphosis. It enables them to eat and digest other animals opposed to vegetation.
[6] http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Pseudacris_crucifer/
[7] http://www.bayjournal.com/article/vernal_ponds_spring_to_life_with_peepers_serenades
[8] http://www.bayjournal.com/article/vernal_ponds_spring_to_life_with_peepers_serenades
[9] http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Pseudacris_crucifer/
*,** These changes occur due to the dietary advances made in the Spring Peeper after metamorphosis. It enables them to eat and digest other animals opposed to vegetation.
[6] http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Pseudacris_crucifer/
[7] http://www.bayjournal.com/article/vernal_ponds_spring_to_life_with_peepers_serenades
[8] http://www.bayjournal.com/article/vernal_ponds_spring_to_life_with_peepers_serenades
[9] http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Pseudacris_crucifer/