Amphibians
Amphibians include frogs, salamanders and caecilians. A typical amphibian has a larval stage spent in water during which it breathes through gills, and an adult stage that is less tied to water when they rely on lungs. However, there are some species that skip the tadpole stage and others that keep their gills throughout their life.
Order
Frogs and toads (Anura)Frogs and toads are the most diverse and widespread of the three amphibian orders. Unlike the other amphibians, adult frogs and toads have no tails but they do have many adaptations to jumping, for example long hind legs, elongated ankle bones and a short vertebral column.
Salamanders (Caudata)Salamanders are amphibians, although they may look lizard-like in appearance. Salamander species vary in size from under 3cm to about 180cm in length.
Earth News
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Launch for amphibian 'life raft'
Conservationists have launched a new initiative aimed at safeguarding the world's amphibians from extinction.
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Crisis for the world’s amphibians
It is a time of crisis for the world's amphibians, says Helen Meredith. In this week's Green Room she says we may be facing our last chance to save this important group of animals.
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About
Amphibians (class Amphibia), such as frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians, are ectothermic (or cold-blooded) animals that metamorphose from a juvenile water-breathing form, to an adult air-breathing form. Though amphibians typically have four limbs, the Caecilians are notable for being limbless. Unlike other land vertebrates (amniotes), amphibians lay eggs in water. Amphibians are superficially similar to reptiles.
Amphibians are ecological indicators, and in recent decades there has been a dramatic decline in amphibian populations around the globe. Many species are now threatened or extinct.
Amphibians evolved in the Devonian Period and were top predators in the Carboniferous and Permian Periods, but many lineages were wiped out during the Permian-Triassic extinction. One group, the metoposaurs, remained important predators during the Triassic, but as the world became drier during the Early Jurassic they died out, leaving a handful of relict temnospondyls like Koolasuchus and the modern orders of Lissamphibia.
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Scientific Classification
Class: Amphibian (Amphibia)
Other members of the same phylum
- Barnacles, copepods and allies (Maxillopoda)
- Birds (Aves)
- Cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyes)
- Cephalopods (Cephalopoda)
- Insects (Insecta)
- Jellyfish (Scyphozoa)
- Lobe-finned fishes and allies (Sarcopterygii)
- Lobsters, woodlice and allies (Malacostraca)
- Mammals (Mammalia)
- Millipedes (Diplopoda)
- Polychaete worms (Polychaeta)
- Ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii)
- Reptiles (Reptilia)
- Sea urchins (Echinoidea)
- Spiders, mites and allies (Arachnida)
- Starfish (Asteroidea)
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