close print view Michigan's Frogs & Toads There are more than
3400 species of frogs and toads worldwide, with the majority
living in the humid tropics. Michigan can boast only 13 species,
but they are an important part of the State's wildlife heritage.
Frogs and toads, along with the salamanders, are members of the
class Amphibia. Amphibians are characterized by a life cycle
which begins with an unshelled egg laid in water, the egg
hatches into a fish like, gill breathing larva (called a tadpole
or polliwog in frogs and toads), followed by the transformation
of the larva into an adult. During this transformation, the
larva gradually develops legs, lungs, and other modifications
for life as an air breathing adult capable of living on land.
Sometimes this transformation occurs inside the egg, with the
animal hatching out as an "adult," but all of Michigan's frogs
and toads, have a typical aquatic (water living) tadpole stage.
Most amphibians have rather thin skins through which they can
"breathe" and absorb or