Amphibians are well known to lay their eggs in all sorts of interesting places: from large ponds, rivers, and streams to tiny tree holes and snail shells. Choosing a smaller, isolated place to grow up, like small water pools in tree hollows or bamboo stumps, can keep you relatively safe from competition and predators. But what do you do when you have to poop? Ito and Okada (2024) reared the Taiwanese tree frog (Kurixalus eiffingeri), in the lab and found they do not poop as tadpoles. Instead, these tadpoles keep their feces in their guts until metamorphosis when they leave their small pools of water. Additionally, K. eiffingeri is more tolerant of ammonia than three other species tested in the study. This sanitation strategy might be more widespread, but remains to be tested in other frogs and animals that are restricted to small bodies of water.

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