When a Tadpole Turns into a Frog - Is This Evolution in Action? | The Institute for Creation Research

When a Tadpole Turns into a Frog - Is This Evolution in Action?

Often in lectures or articles creationists mention the impossibility of animals undergoing major body style transformations as required by evolution, such as an invertebrate acquiring a backbone and becoming an amphibian, or a reptile acquiring wings and becoming a bird, etc. Genetically, each feature requires a very specific suite of genes in its production and operation, and in none of these cases are the genes already present.

An invertebrate, like a jellyfish, a clam, or a worm, does not possess the genes necessary to construct a vertebral column, or to integrate it with all the other muscles, nerves, and organs needed by animals with a backbone, including fish, yet this transformation must have occurred if macroevolution is true.

Similarly, a functioning fish does not possess the genes necessary to construct and utilize legs. While some fish do have a few cartilage chips in their fins, these are not attached to the backbone by means of the pelvis or shoulder girdle necessary for standing. This doesn't even consider the host of muscles and nerve connections required for true legs or arms. Somehow, a fish would have to acquire a host of new, functioning genes to become an amphibian, a process unknown to science. Random mutations are the only proposed source, but these have never been observed to add useful genes to any genome.

But what about tadpoles, which live in the water and have no legs, which change into land-dwelling frogs with legs? Surely metamorphosis is an example of evolution in action they say. Nothing could be further from the truth however.

FrogKeep in mind that tadpoles are not fish. They may superficially look somewhat like a guppy, but they are the offspring of fully functioning frogs, complete with all the genes for legs and the structures needed to use them. The tadpole is not yet fully grown, and in the incomplete stage has not acquired all the features present in the adult, but it is a juvenile frog nonetheless.

However, it does have all the genes needed for life in the water, as well as those genes needed to grow legs at the right time, then live on land, and eventually produce tadpoles which themselves become frogs. No new genetic information must be acquired by mutation as required by evolution. They are already present.

A similar sentiment could be made about a human fetus in its early stages. At one point it has no arms or legs (or eyes or lungs etc.) but it acquires them through genetically controlled growth. No evolutionary process is needed to transform a fertilized human embryo into a baby and then into an adult. All the genes are present at the start.

Neither growth nor metamorphosis are evolution. Such growth is the outworking of the Creator's majestic design for life.

Cite this article: John D. Morris, Ph.D. 2004. When a Tadpole Turns into a Frog - Is This Evolution in Action?. Acts & Facts. 33 (6).

The Latest
NEWS
Make Plans to Attend Our Estate Planning Workshop at the Discovery...
Did you know that up to 75% of Americans over 18 have no retirement or estate plans? Don’t wait to prepare for the future. Join us on Saturday, October...

NEWS
Fossil Confusion in Ethiopia: Are Evolutionary Trees Built on...
A new study published in Nature describes the discovery of 13 fossilized teeth from the Ledi-Geraru site in Ethiopia. They have been dated to between...

NEWS
The Only Mesozoic Dragonfly in Canada—Is a Dragonfly
In 2023, an undergraduate student from McGill University discovered a new dragonfly species in Alberta, Canada. In fact, “This is the first ever...

CREATION PODCAST
Dr. Jake Hebert | Journey to ICR | The Creation Podcast: Episode...
ICR’s science staff have spent more than 50 years researching scientific evidence that refutes evolutionary philosophy...

NEWS
Oldest Evidence of Butterflies
Insects such as the ubiquitous butterfly belong to the huge phylum Arthropoda (creatures having paired, jointed appendages and a chitinous exoskeleton)....

NEWS
Another Big Mistake in Evolution
The strange and wonderful coelacanth1 has long been a challenge to evolutionists. The coelacanth has long been hailed as an ancestor...

ACTS & FACTS
ICR 2025 Resource Catalog
At the Institute for Creation Research, our mission is not only to conduct research demonstrating how science confirms Scripture but also to share this...

NEWS
Show Your Love for the ICR Discovery Center on North Texas Giving...
Thursday, September 18, is North Texas Giving Day! We invite you to join others in supporting ICR’s unique ministry as well as our creation museum...

NEWS
Living Gyroscope in Flies
The lowly fruit fly (Drosophila) is the research biologist’s friend in fields such as biomedical science, genetics, and developmental biology....

NEWS
Turning Point Founder Charlie Kirk Is Now with the Lord
Courageous Christian and creation supporter Charlie Kirk was murdered on September 10, 2025, while speaking at a Turning Point USA event held at Utah...