Facts About Amphibians

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  • Amphibians are quite a unique group of animals. There are approximately more than three thousand existing species of amphibians today. They are divided into three orders.
  • The order Anura, which include frogs and toads, comprises the biggest amphibian variety with about 2,600 species of amphibians.
  • The order Caudata, including salamanders, lizards and other tailed amphibians, comes next with about 320 species while the order Gymnophiona, amphibians which resemble worms and snakes, has about 160 species.
  • Most amphibians are found in almost all the areas around the world except in regions where there is snow cover all year long.
  • The word "amphibian" means "double life" because most of the species usually spend a part of their life in aquatic and terrestrial environments.
  • Most amphibians also go through metamorphosis where they undergo major changes in their body appearance and structure as they grow. For example, frogs lay eggs that hatch into tadpoles in an aquatic environment.
  • As they grow they begin to experience a dramatic change in their appearance where they begin to grow legs and lose their tails and begin to move into and for the most part of their lives.
  • Amphibians are known to be good bio-indicators of changes in the environment. They help tell scientists of the changes that may be happening in the areas where these amphibians live. A good example of this is the population of frogs in a certain area.
  • When they are found populating the area in healthy numbers, it shows that the environment is healthy and ideal for the frogs. But if the area shows a rapid decline in their population, it means that there may be something wrong.
  • Frogs are known to be good bio-indicators of their environment due to a number of reasons. One is that the frogs are able to live a part of their life cycle in water and a part of it on land. It can give the scientists an idea of the changes in both the aquatic and terrestrial environment by simply studying the frogs and the changes that occur in them.
  • Another reason is that frogs usually have permeable skin which allows different substances to freely move around its body. This also makes it easier for frogs to absorb and concentrate whatever poisonous substances there are in their environment and store them in their fatty tissues.
  • Amphibians have been known to be around for millions of years. The earliest known frog has been known to belong in the late Jurassic Period some 190 million years ago.
  • Some frogs, like the African clawed toad are known to grow claws. Hibernating frogs usually make use of little amounts of oxygen that the oxygen that they do use enters through their skin in a process called cutaneous gas exchange.
  • During this process, the hibernating frogs literally breathe through their skin. In times of extreme drought and heat, the frogs are also known to undergo what is known as estivation which is quite similar to hibernation to enter into a period of dormancy in order to conserve energy and survive through extreme conditions.