These eggs will then hatch, producing enormous schools of tadpoles. As Dr Jeff Streicher, the Natural History Museum’s curator of amphibians, explains, the life cycle of amphibians means that species have a whole range of different behaviours.

“Frogs and toads have evolved loads of really interesting larval behaviours,” explains Jeff.

“It’s an interesting situation as many amphibians have this biphasic life cycle where they’ve got free living aquatic larvae that then metamorphose into terrestrial adults. And there’s lots of variants on that.”

Some produce aquatic larvae that then change into aquatic frogs. Others lay their eggs on land, where they then develop directly into their adult form. Then there are some specialised species whose adults nurture their eggs and larvae on their own backs.

But it’s when a species of amphibian produces thousands of larvae within a single pond that this fascinating schooling behaviour appears.    

“In the species of toads and frogs that have aquatic larvae there are a couple of interesting schooling behaviours that have evolved where, just like fish, the tadpoles will stick together,” explains Jeff.

For the western toad, though, “especially early in the breeding season there’ll often be scenarios like you see in the picture where a water body is just loaded with these recently hatched tadpoles.”

It is this sheer number of individuals that makes the tadpoles critical components of the ponds in which they live. Many of the unfortunate amphibians will fall prey to insects, other frogs and salamanders.

But the biggest threat to these toads is likely coming from humans. While the western toad has a large range and is doing well in general, some populations seem to be more at risk than others. This seems to be particularly true for those living at high elevations, where climate change could be harming their numbers.

This winning image, however, showcases a thriving local ecosystem in which the toads, plants and water all rely on each other in a demonstration of the interconnectedness of life.