Portal:Amphibians
The Amphibian Portal
Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniotic, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all tetrapods, excluding the amniotes (tetrapods with an amniotic membrane, such as modern reptiles, birds, and mammals). All extant (living) amphibians belong to the monophyletic subclass Lissamphibia, with three living orders: Anura (frogs), Urodela (salamanders), and Gymnophiona (caecilians). Evolved to be mostly semiaquatic, amphibians have adapted to inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living in freshwater, wetland or terrestrial ecosystems (such as riparian woodland, fossorial and even arboreal habitats). Their life cycle typically starts out as aquatic larvae with gills known as tadpoles, 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 like lizards, but unlike reptiles and other amniotes, require water bodies in which to breed. With their complex reproductive needs and permeable skins, amphibians are often ecological indicators; 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 ecologically dominant during the Carboniferous and Permian periods, but were later displaced in terrestrial environments by early reptiles and basal synapsids (mammal predecessors). The origin of modern amphibians belonging to Lissamphibia, which first appeared during the Early Triassic, around 250 million years ago, has long been contentious. However the emerging consensus is that they likely originated from temnospondyls, the most diverse group of prehistoric amphibians, during the Permian period. (Full article...)
Selected frog article
Hylodidae, commonly known as giant Neotropical torrent frogs, is a family of frogs native to Brazil and northern Argentina. Phylogenetic evidence suggests the Hylodidae being the sister group to the Alsodidae.
Megaelosia goeldii is one species that lost the ability to produce vocalizations which in turn is denoted as mute. Through observation of aggressive interactions, it was found that the species' vocal sacs are used for one form of its visual signaling and communication. (Full article...)Selected salamander article
List of selected salamander articles
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Did you know? –
- ... that the extinct amphibian Cryobatrachus (restoration pictured) was discovered in the Transantarctic Mountains of Antarctica?
- ... that the largest living frog species is the African Goliath frog?
- ... that Malcolm's Ethiopian toad has what is believed to be a unique breeding strategy with many females laying their eggs at a single site on land?
- ... that Eichwald's toad was first described in 2008, having previously been considered to be a subspecies of the Caucasian toad?
Selected amphibian type
Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands.
A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scientific taxonomy, but is common in popular culture (folk taxonomy), in which toads are associated with drier, rougher skin and more terrestrial habitats. (Full article...)List of selected amphibian type articles
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Selected images
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Photograph: Richard Bartz
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Photo credit: Derek RamseyThe American Green Frog (Rana clamitans) is native to the eastern half of the United States and Canada. Green frogs live wherever there is shallow freshwater: ponds, road-side ditches, lakes, swamps, streams and brooks. The green frog is abundant wherever it occurs.
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Photograph: Brian GratwickeRabbs' fringe-limbed treefrog (Ecnomiohyla rabborum) is a large species of frog originally found in the forest canopies of central Panama. Only discovered in 2005, the species is thought to be extinct in the wild; only one specimen, a male at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, survives.
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Photo: QuartlDendrobates azureus, commonly known as the blue poison dart frog or okopipi, is a poison dart frog found in the forests surrounded by the Sipaliwini Savanna in southern Suriname. Authorities have recently treated it as a variant of Dendrobates tinctorius rather than a distinct species as before.
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Photograph: Benny TrappThe Epirus water frog (Pelophylax epeiroticus) is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is found in western Greece, including Corfu, and the southern areas of Albania. The species is collected from the wild for human consumption.
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The fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) is a European salamander species with a long lifespan. These nocturnal animals generally eat various insects, spiders, earthworms and slugs, but they also occasionally eat newts and young frogs.
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Photo credit: LiquidGhoulThe New England Tree Frog (Litoria subglandulosa) is a species of frog native to the streams of the New England Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia.
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Photograph credit: Charles James SharpThe marsh frog (Pelophylax ridibundus) is a species of amphibian native to Europe and parts of Asia. It is the largest type of frog in most of its range, growing to a snout-to-vent length of around 100 mm (4 in); tadpoles can reach up to 190 mm (7.5 in) in length, but this usually occurs in places with long winters where the tadpole has time to grow. Marsh frogs hibernate during the winter, either underwater or in burrows, and are able to use the Earth's magnetic field to locate breeding ponds. This marsh frog was photographed in Kampinos National Park, Poland.
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Photograph: Brian GratwickeA female limosa harlequin frog (Atelopus limosus) in Panama. This endangered species of toad in the family Bufonidae inhabits stream banks in tropical moist lowland forests and rivers of the Chagres watershed. It is found in two colour forms, one in lowlands and one in uplands.
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Photograph: Benny TrappThe Spanish painted frog (Discoglossus jeanneae) is a species of frog in the family Alytidae. Endemic to Spain, it mostly lives in open areas, pine groves and shrublands. It feeds mostly on insects and worms.
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Photograph credit: Charles J. SharpMantella baroni, commonly known as Baron's mantella, variegated golden frog or Madagascar poison frog, is a species of frog in the family Mantellidae. It is native to Madagascar and is seen here in Ranomafana National Park in the southeastern part of the country. The species was described in 1888 by George Albert Boulenger, who named it after its collector, Richard Baron. It has been classified as a least-concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature due to its relatively wide distribution, but is threatened by habitat loss. The frog's diet includes mites, which cause it to accumulate a high alkaloid concentration in its skin, making it toxic. The bright colours may serve as a warning sign to potential predators of the frog's toxicity.
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Photograph: Benny TrappThe Iberian midwife toad (Alytes cisternasii) is a species of frog in the family Alytidae found in Portugal and western Spain. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and shrubland, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, intermittent rivers and freshwater marshes, pastureland, and aquaculture ponds. The species is affected by habitat loss, and the IUCN lists it as being "Near Threatened".
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Photo credit: Fir0002The Eastern Banjo Frog (Limnodynastes dumerilli) is native to eastern Australia and has been introduced to New Zealand. The frog is also commonly called the pobblebonk after its distinctive "bonk" call, which is likened to a banjo string being plucked. Adults are roughly seven to eight cm long.
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Photograph: Benny TrappThe Albanian water frog (Pelophylax shqipericus) is a species of true frog in the family Ranidae. It is native to Albania and Montenegro, where it lives in aquatic environments. The frogs are medium-sized. Males sometimes bear a distinctive bright green stripe down the length of the backbone, but otherwise are green to light brown in overall colouring with large black or dark brown spots. Females are olive green or light brown in colour and also bear brown or black large spots. The species is endangered and known populations are currently in decline.
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Photograph credit: Petar MiloševićThe agile frog (Rana dalmatina) is a species of true frog in the family Ranidae. Native to central and southern Europe, its brownish dappled colouring helps to conceal it among the leaf litter on the forest floor. This frog, about 5 cm (2.0 in) long, was photographed in the Golovec Forest in Slovenia.
Selected toad article
Selected caecilian article
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