Elusive 'Dancing Frog' Tadpoles Finally Glimpsed

by Mindy Weisberger, Senior Writer   |   April 01, 2016 07:23am ET

Elusive tadpoles of the Indian dancing frog, known for its leg-waving dance moves, have been seen for the first time ever.

Though scientists had known about the adult frogs' graceful "dances," which lure mates and ward off rival males, the juveniles of the species had never been seen before. That's likely because during this developmental stage, the tadpoles live entirely below the streambed surface, buried deeply in the silt and gravel. They make their burrows in the forest rivers of the Western Ghats mountain range, along India's west coast.

Sathyabhama Das Biju, one of the study authors and a biologist at the University of Delhi in India, said in a statement that the tadpole likely stayed hidden to science for so long because of such burrowing habits, which are highly unusual in tadpoles. 

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