AMPHIBIANS

HERPETOLOGY = the study of reptiles and amphibians

What is an amphibian? ❏ Vertebrate ❏ Leads a “double life” ❏ Moist skin ❏ Metamorphosis

Evolution of Amphibians ● Bones became stronger ● Lungs to breath air ● Limbs to walk on land Paleontologists have discovered fossils of a species that provides the missing evolutionary link between fish and the first animals that walked out of water onto land about 375 million years ago. The newly found species, Tiktaalik roseae, has a skull, a neck, ribs and parts of the limbs that are similar to four-legged animals known as tetrapods, as well as fish-like features such as a primitive jaw, fins and scales.

History Carboniferous Period = Age of Amphibians 3 groups survive today - salamanders, frogs, and caecilians

Feeding ● Larva (tadpoles) are usually herbivores ● Adults are usually carnivores

Respiration ● Larva (tadpoles) breathe with gills ● Adult frogs have lungs Some amphibians keep gills all their life, mudpuppy

Circulation Heart is a double loop, with 3 chambers and a ventricle that is partly divided

Reproduction Frogs lay eggs, fertilization is external Larvae are aquatic

CLOACA sperm, egg, solid wastes, and urine leave the body through this opening

METAMORPHOSIS Series of changes that occur as an organism grows

Amphibian Groups Kingdom Animalia …..Phylum Chordata ……...Subphylum Vertebrata ………….Class Amphibia Order Urodela Order Anura Order Apoda

Quick Check 1. How many chambers does the heart of a frog have? ____ 2. The opposite of terrestrial is ___________ 3. A series of changes that occur from birth to adulthood (tadpole → frog) is called _______________ 4. Tadpoles breathe using _______. 5. The main organ of excretion is the _____________ 6. Urine, eggs, and other wastes exit through the __________ 7. The opposite of carnivorous is _____________ 8. A caecilian is an amphibian that does not have ________ 9. The study of reptiles and amphibians is ___________ 10. To what kingdom do frogs belong? _________ what phylum? ____________ what class ? _____________

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