What key substances must the wood frog's digestive system rapidly retool to process after developing legs?
Answer
Protein and chitin
Metamorphosis represents a massive energetic bottleneck requiring the digestive system to undergo a radical transformation. The system must shift from processing a slow-burning, high-volume plant diet suitable for aquatic growth to processing a fast-acting, protein-rich diet necessary for rapid terrestrial growth and preparing for long-term energy storage. Specifically, the internal machinery must adapt to efficiently digest protein and chitin, which are the main components found in the exoskeletons of the adult insect and arthropod prey they will consume.
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