1. Amphibians Class Amphibia

2. Chinese Giant Salamander
Amphibians
Animals that can live on land and in water
Chinese Giant Salamander

3. Amphibians First animals with four limbs
Tetrapods: vertebrates that have four limbs.

4. Acanthostega Found in 360 million year-old rocks in Greenland
Had lungs and eight-toed legs, but also had gills and a lateral line system.

5. Fish to Amphibian Transition

6. Adaptations help amphibians live on land
Large shoulder and hip bones help support more weight.

7. Adaptations
Interlocking projections on the vertebrae help keep the backbone from twisting and sagging.

8. Adaptations
Mobile, muscular tongue allows amphibians to capture and manipulate food.

9. Adaptations
Development of a middle ear help some amphibians hear out of water.

10. Adaptations
Breathe through the skin or with the use of gills or lungs

11. Adaptations
Amphibians have a three-chambered heart

12. Amphibians return to the water to reproduce
Eggs do not have shells

13. Strategies to keep eggs wet:
Laying eggs directly in water
Laying eggs on moist ground
Wrapping eggs in leaves
Brooding eggs in pockets on the female’s back

14. Pygmy Marsupial Frog Flectonotus pygmaeus

15. Tadpoles Some frogs start as tadpoles
Have gills and a broad-finned tail

16. Amphibian Metamorphosis
Change in form and habits of an animal
It affects nearly every organ in the tadpole’s body

18. Tadpole into Adult Frog
Gills are reabsorbed and lungs develop
Circulatory system is reorganized to send blood to the lungs
Tail fin is reabsorbed

19. 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.

21. Three Groups of Modern Amphibians
Salamanders
Frogs
Caecilians

22. Salamanders
More than 300 species
Long body
Four walking limbs
tail

23. Salamanders
Walk with a side-to-side movement that may be similar to ancient tetrapods
The largest family of salamanders do not have lungs, so they exchange gases through the lining of their skin and mouth.

24. Family Plethodontidae
Lungless salamanders
Most common kind

25. Salamanders Larvae and adults are carnivores
Invertebrates Vertebrates Insects Fish
Worms Frogs
Snails

26. Frogs
Over 3000 species
Largest group of living amphibians

27. Adult Frogs Tailless bodies Long, muscular hind limbs Webbed feet
Exposed eardrums
Bulging eyes

28. 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

29. 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

30. Frogs
Live in every environment on Earth except at the poles and the driest deserts.

31. Caecilians Legless, burrowing amphibians
Live in the tropics, such as South America

32. Caecilians 160 species Range from 4 inches to 5 feet
Banded bodies that make them look like giant earthworms

33. Caecilians Are predators Search for earthworms and grubs
Have no arms or legs for burrowing, so have to move like an earthworm.
Use hydrostatic skeleton to stiffen it’s body and drive its head forward like a battering ram.