Giant tadpoles bigger than soda cans

Earyn McGee, a researcher of reptiles and amphibians at the Southwest Arizona Research Station (SWRS), reported on Twitter on Twitter about the death of the Goliath tadpole . The animal died at SWRS last year. Scientists are still preserving Goliath to learn more about sex, morphology and why it does not develop into frogs.

Goliath tadpoles larger than soda cans. (Photo: Live Science).

Goliath was discovered in 2018, during SWRS's trip to capture American buffalo frogs (Lithobates catesbeianus) in southeastern Arizona. A volunteer sees an oversized tadpole while looking at a shallow lagoon. Goliath was so large that the volunteer initially thought it was a fish. After that, the experts at SWRS took it to the station and put it in the tank for further study.

On June 13, 2018, McGee posted Goliath's photos on social media and attracted a lot of attention. She said the Goliath is much larger than the average size of the American frog tadpole tadpole. This is most likely the result of a form of hormone imbalance. This imbalance prevents it from developing into frogs.

Some previous studies have described similarly sized tadpoles. However, Goliath is the largest tadpole McGee has ever seen.

Big size is not always beneficial, McGee said. "The downside of Goliath is that the respiratory and circulatory systems may not be suitable for body size as it continues to grow," she explained. However, large buffalo tadpoles are capable of earning more food than young ones. This is useful if food in the lagoon is scarce, McGee said.

The American buffalo frog is the largest frog in North America. They can weigh 0.5 kg and are up to 20 cm long or more. Their tadpoles are usually about 15 cm long, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). American buffalo frogs are native to the central and eastern regions. They were brought to the southwest in the 1900s due to the increasing demand for frog feet as food, becoming invasive alien organisms.