Amphibians

AMPHIBIANS

HERPETOLOGY =
the study of reptiles and amphibians

What is an amphibian?

❏ Vertebrate
❏ Leads a “double life”
❏ Moist skin
❏ Metamorphosis

Evolution of Amphibians

●Bones became stronger
●Lungs to breath air
●Limbs to walk on land

Paleontologists have discovered fossils of a species that provides the missing evolutionary link between fish and
the first animals that walked out of water onto land about 375 million years ago. The newly found species,
Tiktaalik roseae, has a skull, a neck, ribs and parts of the limbs that are similar to four-legged animals known as
tetrapods, as well as fish-like features such as a primitive jaw, fins and scales.

History
Carboniferous Period = Age of Amphibians

3 groups survive today
- salamanders, frogs, and caecilians

Feeding

●Larva (tadpoles) are usually herbivores
●Adults are usually carnivores

Respiration

●Larva (tadpoles) breathe with gills
●Adult frogs have lungs

Some
amphibians
keep gills all
their life,
mudpuppy

Circulation

Heart is a double loop, with 3 chambers and a
ventricle that is partly divided

Reproduction

Frogs lay eggs, fertilization is external

Larvae are aquatic

CLOACA

sperm, egg, solid wastes, and urine leave the body through this opening

METAMORPHOSIS

Series of changes that occur as an organism
grows

Amphibian Groups

Kingdom Animalia
…..Phylum Chordata
……...Subphylum Vertebrata
………….Class Amphibia

Order Urodela
Order Anura
Order Apoda

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/media/117744/Representative-amphibians

See videos at

http://video.nationalgeographic.com