Behavior during the development of all the offsprings of a Bufo arenarum Hensel couple

Abstract

The sample observed consisted of 1443 tadpoles born september 24th 1962 from one couple of toads. 21,4 % of the total population were inhibited in their development. They were affected by a substance liberated by the rest of the tadpoles, which killed them. The living tadpoles were transferred to a different container. Among the tadpoles left in the original container, the first toad was born 37 days after hatching and the last one 870 days after hatching (2 years and 6 months). The variation of the development time was great: 7,76 % were born in 1962; 52,1 % in 1963; 33,59 % in 1964 and 6,52 % in 1965. About the inhibited tadpoles: since the environmental variations were kept as low as possible in the new container the inhibition of these tadpoles might be due to pure genetic factors.