AMPHIBIANS

CLASSIFICATION

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Superclass: Tetrapoda
• Class: Amphibia Gray 1825

WHAT CHARACTERISTICS PUT THEM IN THEIR CLASSIFICATION?

• Amphibians have a backbone. They are vertebrates.
• Amphibians are cold-blooded. They cannot regulate their own body temperature.
• Amphibians are frogs and toads.
• Amphibians spend at least part of their lives in water and on land.
• Amphibians do not have scales and their skin is permeable (molecules and gases can pass through.

WHERE ARE AMPHIBIANS FOUND?

• Amphibians have adapted to survive in many different types of habitats.
• They can be found in forests, woodlots, meadows, springs, & streams.

WHAT ARE THE REPRODUCTIVE PATTERNS?

• Amphibians reproduce sexually,the eggs are fertilized outside the mother's body.
• The mother lays eggs in jellylike structure.

WHAT DO AMPHIBIANS EAT?

• Most amphibians eat meat.
• Young amphibians eat small microorganisms and creatures like water fleas
• Once they’ve become an adult, amphibians like to hunt small insects .
• The bigger species can hunt small mammals, like mice.

WHAT IS THEIR ROLE OR NICHE IN THE ENVIRONMENT AROUND THEM?

• Tadpoles keep waterways clean by feeding on algae.
• Adult frogs eat large quantities of insects,disease vectors can transmit fatal illnesses to humans (mosquitoes/malaria)

4 INTERESTING FACTS

• Spadefoot toads smell like peanut butter.
• • Frogs shed their skin about once a week and usually eat it afterward.
• Amphibians have been around for about 350 million years.
• Frogs have teeth. Most frogs have teeth on the upper jaw, yet none on the lower jaw.

PICTURES

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