Tadpoles can be darker or lighter depending on the environment they are raised in Liedtke, H.C., Lopez-Hervas, K., Galván, I. et al.
Tadpoles can change their colour to better match their environment, making them harder for predators to spot.
The young amphibians are common prey for birds and fish and the ability to camouflage is probably very important for their survival, says at the Doñana Biological Station in Seville, Spain.
To learn more about how they do this, Liedtke and his colleagues carried out experiments with western spadefoot toad (Pelobates cultripes) tadpoles. They grew five…
