In our own juvenile stage, many of us received our wide-eyed introduction to the wonders of nature by watching the metamorphosis of swimming tadpoles into leaping frogs and toads. The recent alarming declines in amphibian populations worldwide and the suitability of amphibians for use in answering research questions in disciplines as diverse as molecular systematics, animal behavior, and evolutionary biology have focused enormous attention on tadpoles. Despite this popular and scientific interest, relatively little is known about these fascinating creatures.
In this indispensable reference, leading experts on tadpole biology relate what we currently know about tadpoles and what we might learn from them in the future. Tadpoles provides detailed summaries of tadpole morphology, development, behavior, ecology, and environmental physiology; explores the evolutionary consequences of the tadpole stage; synthesizes available information on their biodiversity; and presents a standardized terminology and an exhaustive literature review of tadpole biology.
To the untrained observer, the question of why tadpoles--those bug-like creatures that metamorphose into frogs--exist is one of life's many mysteries. It is something of a mystery to biologists as well; they posit that the tadpole's small body size is an evolutionary advantage in a world of large-mouthed predators, but they remain uncertain as to how nature came to afford frogs this advantage in the first place.
Indeed, there is much that scientists do not know about tadpoles, a theme that volume editors Roy McDiarmid and Ronald Altig sound several times during this comprehensive survey of what is known about anuran larvae, including details of gross anatomy, feeding behavior, and ecology. Part of the problem, they suggest, is that data are lacking; field scientists have not invested much time in collecting larvae and tadpoles in various stages of development, and the morphological diversity of tadpoles is so immense that no one scientist can hope to know every aspect of their life histories and behaviors. "Less than a third of all tadpoles have been described reasonably well," the editors write, "and the number of entries that have no data, including endotrophs and exotrophs, shows that much work remains." The editors add that in a time when frogs and other amphibian species are disappearing around the world as a result of climatic change and habitat destruction, it is ever more important that such collections be undertaken.
Students of amphibian life and comparative biology will find this a highly rewarding collection, one that suggests many opportunities for further research. --Gregory McNamee
