--- title: Newly Discovered Fanged-Frog Gives Birth to Live Tadpoles description: As opposed to eggs, like most frogs canonical: https://time.com/3651625/fanged-frog-birth-live-tadpoles/ author: Denver Nicks article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-01T18:42:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:48:13.287Z article:section: Science og:title: Newly Discovered Fanged-Frog Gives Birth to Live Tadpoles og:description: As opposed to eggs, like most frogs og:url: https://time.com/3651625/fanged-frog-birth-live-tadpoles/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta46dfc66cd0ad0ac/698777cea988cabe8a6abaaf/fanged-frog.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: A newly discovered frog from the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia is the only known frog to give direct birth to tadpoles. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Newly Discovered Fanged-Frog Gives Birth to Live Tadpoles twitter:description: As opposed to eggs, like most frogs twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta46dfc66cd0ad0ac/698777cea988cabe8a6abaaf/fanged-frog.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Newly Discovered Fanged-Frog Gives Birth to Live Tadpoles  by [Denver Nicks](https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Jan 1, 2015 6:42 PM UTC  A newly discovered frog from the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia is the only known frog to give direct birth to tadpoles. A newly discovered frog from the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia is the only known frog to give direct birth to tadpoles.Jim McGuire—UC Berkeley  by [Denver Nicks](https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Jan 1, 2015 6:42 PM UTC Scientists have [discovered](http://www.eurekalert.org/pub%5Freleases/2014-12/uoc--usf122914.php) a rare frog in Indonesia that gives birth to live tadpoles, researchers report in a journal article published this week. Herpatologist Jim McGuire found proof this summer that the frog, one of a group of roughly 25 species in Indonesia that have two fangs used for fighting, lays not eggs or even live froglets but live tadpoles. It’s the only frog species in the world to do so. McGuire found the frogs on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. He named to the species Limnonectes larvaepartus.  Two tadpoles, each about 10 millimeters long, shortly after birth. Jim McGuire—UC Berkeley \[[_Eureka_](http://www.eurekalert.org/pub%5Freleases/2014-12/uoc--usf122914.php)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3651625/fanged-frog-birth-live-tadpoles/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3651625/fanged-frog-birth-live-tadpoles/"},"headline":"Newly Discovered Fanged-Frog Gives Birth to Live Tadpoles","datePublished":"2015-01-01T18:42:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:48:13.287Z","description":"As opposed to eggs, like most frogs","url":"https://time.com/3651625/fanged-frog-birth-live-tadpoles/","keywords":["animals","Newsfeed","Evolution","Science topic","Biology","eggs"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta46dfc66cd0ad0ac/698777cea988cabe8a6abaaf/fanged-frog.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Denver Nicks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta46dfc66cd0ad0ac/698777cea988cabe8a6abaaf/fanged-frog.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A newly discovered frog from the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia is the only known frog to give direct birth to tadpoles.","caption":"A newly discovered frog from the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia is the only known frog to give direct birth to tadpoles.","creditText":"Jim McGuire—UC Berkeley","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3651625/fanged-frog-birth-live-tadpoles/","name":"Newly Discovered Fanged-Frog Gives Birth to Live Tadpoles"}}]}] ```