Total sialic acid levels (TSA), antioxidant enzymes activities such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and lipid peroxidation (LPO) levels were investigated during the developmental period in tadpoles of the predominantly terrestrial amphibian B. viridis and the predominantly aquatic amphibian R. r. ridibunda. Maximum TSA levels were observed in B. viridis and R. r. ridibunda at the fifth and third week of their development, respectively. SOD and CAT activity variations during development in B. viridis were higher than in R. r. ridibunda. Although SOD activity in B. viridis was higher than R. r. ridibunda at the eighth week, SOD activity increased 19.2-fold in R. r. ridibunda and 10.4-fold in B. viridis between the first and eighth week. CAT activity in R. r. ridibunda did not significantly change (p>0.001) until the fifth week then increased, whereas in B. viridis CAT increased after the third week. In contrast to the rise in the antioxidant enzyme activities, LPO levels tended to decrease during the developmental period. Levels of LPO showed a similar trend until the third week for both species. The minimum LPO levels in B. viridis and R. r. ridibunda were 23+/-1.2 and 146+/-7.3 nmol MDA g(-1) tissue, at the eighth week, respectively. While decreasing LPO levels correlated with increasing antioxidant enzyme activities, TSA tended to decrease after reaching a maximum point.