Download Amphibians Class Amphibia

Amphibians
Class Amphibia
AMPHIBIANS
• Amphibians begin life in water.
• They start out as tadpoles and breathe
with gills
• As they grow, they develop lungs and legs
• They move to land as adults
• Amphibians move back to water to lay
eggs.
Amphibians
LIVE ON LAND BUT STAY NEAR THE
WATER
Chinese Giant Salamander
Adaptations
• Mobile, muscular tongue allows
amphibians to capture and manipulate
food.
Adaptations
• Breathe through the
skin or with the use of
gills or lungs
Amphibians return to the water to
lay eggs.
• Eggs do not have
shells
Strategies to keep eggs wet:
• Laying eggs directly in water
• Laying eggs on moist ground
• Wrapping eggs in leaves
Pygmy Marsupial Frog
Flectonotus pygmaeus
Tadpoles
• Some frogs start as tadpoles
• Have gills and a broad-finned tail
Tadpole into Adult Frog
• Gills are reabsorbed and lungs develop
• Circulatory system is reorganized to send
blood to the lungs
• Tail fin is reabsorbed
Tadpole into Adult Frog
• Body grows limbs and completely
reorganizes its skeleton, muscles, and
parts of the nervous system.
• Digestive system is rebuilt to handle a
carnivorous diet.
Amphibians
• Salamanders
• Frogs
Salamanders
• More than 300
species
• Long body
• Four walking limbs
• tail
Frogs
• Over 3000 species
• Largest group of living amphibians
Adult Frogs
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Tailless bodies
Long, muscular hind limbs
Webbed feet
Exposed eardrums
Bulging eyes
Adult Frogs
• Bodies adapted for jumping
– Elongated bones in their hips, legs and feet
for increased speed and power
– Hind legs have fused bones that absorb the
shock of landing
Toads
• One family of frogs
• Rougher, bumpier
skin
• Shorter legs- not
good jumpers
• Glands make toxins
that protect them from
predators – also in
tropical frogs
Frogs
• Live in every
environment on Earth
except at the poles
and the driest
deserts.