Life Cycle of Common Frogs

Location: UK
Species: Common Frog (Rana temporaria)
Added: 2025-11-25
Recorded: 2025-7-10
Source: Robert E Fuller

Follow the remarkable life cycle of the common frog (Rana temporaria) as it unfolds in a simple UK garden pond. Each spring, hundreds of frogs return to breed, filling the water with loud croaks and tangled mating balls where males compete fiercely for females—sometimes even clashing with toads.
Thousands of eggs are laid as jelly-like Frog Spawn, which swells in the water and anchors to pond weed. In-side each egg, a tadpole forms, hatching to graze on algae before developing legs, lungs, and a taste for tiny invertebrates—occasionally even other tadpoles if conditions are crowded.
Predators such as diving beetles, backswimmers, and spiders ensure only a few survive to adulthood. Cli-mate-driven warm spells are also speeding up metamorphosis, leaving young frogs smaller and more vulner-able. Finally, the tiny froglets leave the water, ready to grow for several years before returning to the very pond where their life began.