Amphibians spend part of their lives living in water and the other part living on land. Most amphibians lay soft eggs in water. An egg hatches into an aquatic larval stage which looks and acts quite differently from the more terrestrial adult stage. For instance, toad and frog eggs hatch into tadpoles, which can only survive in water. As the larvae grow, they experience radical physiological changes and are transformed into adults in a process known as metamorphosis.
Many salamanders return to their birth pool to breed.
Their larvae overwinter in the pool. Each egg mass contains an average of about 100 eggs. Unlike the quiet salamanders, toads and frogs converge on vernal pools to call and attract mates. Frogs produce their calls by moving air back and forth over their vocal cords causing them to vibrate and produce sounds. Even when they can't be seen, one can identify what frog or toad species are breeding by listening to their calls.