Tadpole update - Week 2.

The tads continue to develop, but at different paces - the larger the tadpole, generally the smaller the legs.

Much to my surprise I found this guy - probably the smallest tad of the all. The small ones seem to hide at the bottom of the tank amongst the oak leaves and lettuce and spinach that have sunk to the bottom. The larger ones feed at the surface of the water on whatever happens to be floating.

Back legs grow gradually, but the front legs seem to just suddenly appear.

Is there a purpose to the delayed development? If they all matured at the same rate and left the pond at roughly the same time, would the bulk of them fall to predation?