- Amphibians, such as frogs, salamanders, and caecilians, are ectothermic animals that metamorphose from a juvenile water-breathing form, either to an adult air-breathing form.
- Hundreds of millions of years ago, amphibians became the first vertebrates to live on land.
- The three modern orders of amphibians are Anura (frogs and toads), Caudata (salamanders and newts), and Gymnophiona (caecilians, limbless amphibians that resemble snakes).
One way to tell a frog and a toad apart: frogs have smooth, clammy skin, while toads have more dry, bumpy skin. - 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.
- Amphibian is derived from the Ancient Greek term ἀμφίβιος amphíbios which means both kinds of life, amphi meaning “both” and bio meaning life.
- The first amphibians in the Devonian Period were as much as one to five meters in length.
- Frogs can breathe not only with their lungs, but also through their skin
- The lungs in amphibians are primitive compared to that of the amniotes (reptils, birds, and mammals).
- Many aquatic salamanders and all tadpoles have gills in their larval stage, with some (such as the axolotl) retaining gills as aquatic adults.
- More than 75% of all toad and frog species in the world live in tropical rainforests.
- For the purpose of reproduction most amphibians require fresh water.
- The most obvious part of the amphibian metamorphosis is the formation of four legs in order to support the body on land.
Facts about Amphibians
