Amphibians

by: Andrés Puenayán

The word amphibian means two-lives. Amphibians spend their lives in the water and on land.

There are about 6,000 known species of frogs, toads, salamanders, and caecilians.

Frogs and toads are the most diverse, with about 29 families and 4,380 species.

Caecilians: a wormlike tropical amphibian, it spends most of its life

underground and usually almost blind.

Frogs lay their eggs in water.After some time, the baby frogs develop a tail. They are called tadpoles. After a few days, the tadpole can swim around and eat algae.

It develops tiny legs and it begins to look more like an adult frog. After a few weeks, the tail disappears completely. Adult frogs live in a colony of frogs. They mate and return to the water to lay eggs.

Metamorphosis Tadpole: the limbless aquatic larva of a frog or toad, it has

gills and a long flat tail. As the tadpole approaches the adult stage, legs and lungs develop,

and the tail gradually disappears.

The first amphibians appeared approximately 370 million years ago during the Devonian Period.The earliest fossil amphibian is considered to be Ichthyostega, an animal that had four limbs and lungs.

Limb: a part or member of an

animal body distinct from the head and trunk, as a leg, arm,

or wing.

Devonian: pertaining to a period of the Paleozoic Era, 405 to 345 million

years ago, characterized by the dominance of

amphibians.

There are five different kinds of amphibians: frogs, toads, salamanders, newts and caecilians.

Newt: any of several brilliantly colored

salamanders, it lives in North America, Europe,

and northern Asia.

Salamander: any tailed amphibian, they have a soft and moist skin, typically aquatic as a larva and terrestrial as an adult:

several species are endangered.

Every species of amphibian is unique, colorful, and fascinating. Unfortunately, these creatures are in serious trouble all over the world. Many amphibians have already gone extinct and hundreds of species, are endangered.

Features

The axolotl is endangered because of the draining of its habitat. They live only in Mexico. Sometimes, they are sold as pets, but those are wild animals.

Axolotl: any of several salamanders of the genus Ambystoma that inhabit

lakes and ponds of Mexico and remain in the larval stage as mature adults.

Small amphibians feed small insects and worms. Larger amphibians feed larger insects and invertebrates. Very large species such as the Bullfrog and Giant Salamander eat snakes, shrews, mice, fish and other amphibians.

Amphibians are a very important control of many species we consider pests, especially insects. Most of amphibians can catch away a lot of insects at one time.

Pests: an insect or other small animal

that harms or destroys garden

plants, trees, etc.

Frogs and toads are also great singers. Like birds, they sing for several reasons. The first is to attract a mate. Male frogs and toads gather sometimes in large groups in and around a pond. In both the early morning and evening, they will sing to attract a mate.

Mate: one member of a pair

of animals.

Gather: to be together into one group or

place.

New enemies

Scientists are discovering that many amphibians have features that could be helpful to people. The special skin of amphibians produce all kinds of unusual chemicals, and some of those chemicals can fight diseases that hurt humans.