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| Puerto Rican Coqui © William Flaxington |
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 Did you ever wonder why a frog "ribbits" or how amphibians survive even the harshest winters? Well just ask! E-mail your questions to frogwatch@nwf.org.
Question:
The other day I found some eggs on moist soil in my flowerpot after it had rained. Inside the eggs were what appeared to be baby frogs with the heartbeat visible! What are they? Frogs? Salamanders? I am waiting for them to hatch and hope I am able to solve the mystery. These specimens were found in Miami, Florida.
Answer:
Hello. It sounds like you may have found are some very special frog eggs.
Most frogs lay their eggs in water. They lay a lot of eggs that float near the top of the water and can be in clumps of jelly-like material. Toads also lay their eggs in water, but the toad eggs look like long strings.
However, there are two species of frogs in Florida that do not lay their eggs in water, and in fact skip the entire tadpole stage, hatching as miniature froglets. The greenhouse frog and the Puerto Rican coqui have been introduced to the United States from other countries. It will be interesting to see them develop and figure out which species you have found.
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