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Amphibians

Amphibians are ectothermic tetrapods that typically live on land or in water and require water to breed. They evolved from fish with lungs and limbs in the Devonian period. Modern amphibians include frogs, salamanders, and caecilians. Amphibians use their skin to breathe and many rely entirely on their skin for respiration. Their complex needs and permeable skin make amphibians indicators of environmental health, and populations of many species have declined dramatically in recent decades.

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46 views

Amphibians

Amphibians are ectothermic tetrapods that typically live on land or in water and require water to breed. They evolved from fish with lungs and limbs in the Devonian period. Modern amphibians include frogs, salamanders, and caecilians. Amphibians use their skin to breathe and many rely entirely on their skin for respiration. Their complex needs and permeable skin make amphibians indicators of environmental health, and populations of many species have declined dramatically in recent decades.

Uploaded by

AlejandroRoza
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Amphibians are ectothermic, tetrapod vertebr

ates of the class Amphibia. Modern


amphibians are all Lissamphibia. They inhabit
a wide variety of habitats with most species
living within terrestrial, fossorial, arboreal or
freshwater aquatic ecosystems. Amphibians
typically start out as larvae living in water, but
some species have developed behavioural
adaptations to bypass this. The young
generally undergo metamorphosis from larva
with gills to an adult air-breathing form with
lungs. Amphibians use their skin as a
secondary respiratory surface and some small
terrestrial salamanders and frogs lack lungs
and rely entirely on their skin. They are
superficially similar to reptiles but, along with
mammals and birds, reptiles are amniotes and
do not require water bodies in which to breed.

With their complex reproductive needs and


permeable skins, amphibians are
often ecological indicators and in recent
decades there has been a dramatic decline in
amphibian populations for many species
around the globe.
The earliest amphibians evolved in
the Devonian period from sarcopterygian fish
with lungs and bony-limbed fins, features that
were helpful in adapting to dry land. They
diversified and became dominant during
the Carboniferous and Permian periods, but
were later displaced by reptiles and other
vertebrates. Over time, amphibians shrank in
size and decreased in diversity, leaving only
the modern subclass Lissamphibia. The three
modern orders of amphibians are Anura (the
frogs and toads), Urodela (the salamanders),

andApoda (the caecilians). The number of


known amphibian species is approximately
7,000, of which nearly 90% are frogs. The
smallest amphibian (and vertebrate) in the
world is a frog from New Guinea (Paedophryne
amauensis) with a length of just 7.7 mm
(0.30 in). The largest living amphibian is the
1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) Chinese giant
salamander (Andrias davidianus), but this is
dwarfed by the extinct 9 m
(30 ft) Prionosuchus from the middle Permian
of Brazil. The study of amphibians is
called batrachology, while the study of both
reptiles and amphibians is called herpetology.

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