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Little is known about the longevity of frogs and toads in the wild, but some can live for many years. Skeletochronology is a method of examining bones to determine age. Using this method, the ages of mountain yellow-legged frogs (Rana muscosa) were studied, the phalanges of the toes showing seasonal lines where growth slows in winter.
The common frog (Rana temporaria) is also similar in appearance but it has a less rounded snout, damp smooth skin, and usually moves by leaping. [18] Common toads can live for many years and have survived for fifty years in captivity. [19] In the wild, common toads are thought to live for about ten to twelve years.
Hochstetter's frogs can live to 30 years old. Adults do not breed until they are three years old, laying up to 20 eggs each season. [ 9 ] While all four species develop as tadpoles inside the egg, hatching as froglets with developed back legs, Hochstetter's frogs, as the only semiaquatic species, continue to develop in water while the three ...
Although pelleted feed is available, frogs usually will not willingly consume artificial diets, and providing sufficient live prey is challenging. Disease among frogs also tends to be a problem even when great care is taken to provide sanitary conditions. Other challenges to be overcome may be predation, cannibalism, and low water quality. [68]
The average life expectancy of these frogs is five years, but they have been known to live longer than 20 years, [4] and they can grow to 1" to 1.5" long. African dwarf frogs can be mistaken for and are often sold as young African clawed frogs, of the genus Xenopus, which are larger and more aggressive than the dwarf. [citation needed]
These amazing frogs can survive these conditions because their body produces a kind of natural anti-freeze. It is a combination of glucose (produced by the liver) and the chemicals found in urine.
This makes the species even more unique, as PLOS One said, because other frogs that skip the egg step typically give birth to froglets, or baby frogs, but these frogs still give birth to tadpoles.
However, these frogs typically live for much longer in captivity, having been reported to live as long as 25 years. These claims also seem to be questionable, since many of the larger species take a year or more to mature, and Phyllobates species can take more than two years.