Cuban Tree Frog - Life Cycle

Life Cycle

Cuban tree frogs are sexually dimorphic–females are larger than males. Breeding males can be identified by their development of black nuptial pads on their thumbs, which help the male to hold onto the female during mating.

Cuban tree frogs breed year round, but most commonly occurs in the wet season, between May and October. Optimal conditions are considered to be 81.5 °F (27.5 °C) with high humidity (97.8%) and rain. They lay a partial clutch of eggs in varying size ranging from 100-1,000. The full clutch is average a total of 3,961 and varies based on female body size. Eggs can hatch in under 30 hours and can fully develop in 1 month. Much like their adult counter parts newly hatched tadpoles can come in a variety of colors and patterns. They have a wide caudal fin and two rows of labial teeth on the top of the mouth and four rows on the bottom. Tadpoles survive off of algae and will occasionally turn to cannibalism eating other tadpoles and on rare occasions recently metamorphism juveniles. After transformation are between 0.55 and 0.67 inch (14 and 17 mm), while the tail is entirely absorbed.