An ancient species, with a smooth, slimy skin and frog-like appearance. Its webbed feet indicate that it spends all its time in the water, not on land, and has horny black claws on the outer toes of its hind feet. Commonly used in the scientific community for research because the eggs are large and transparent, as are the young tadpoles. Students can watch cells dividing and when the eggs hatch, they can see all the living organs – the heart beating and blood flowing through veins – without having to destroy the specimen. The female is larger than the male. They live in cold water, are veracious eaters, living mainly on small fish.
