Currently, approximately 7,500 species of amphibian animals are known . These have their origin 360 million years ago and are characterized by the fact that they belong to both aquatic and terrestrial environments , being able to live in both at the same time. In that geological era, there were fish that needed to come to the surface and thus began to undergo transformations that helped them to adapt to that other environment as well. Product of them, the amphibians arose.
Their development process is also a constant adaptation by metamorphosis: at the time of birth they live in water, breathe through gills and do not have legs, but a long tail that helps them to move around. As they grow, they develop their four limbs and lungs, although they are also able to breathe through the skin, a tissue without scales and that needs a lot of moisture. They have glands that secrete mucus to maintain moisture.
Later, when their legs are formed and consolidated, they can move out of the body of water to join the habitat that surrounds them. This, of course, exposes them to large and aggressive ground predators. For this reason, they have a useful defense mechanism in these cases: their skin, although very soft, is capable of secreting toxic substances that allow them to attack them in case of threat. These poisons are very lethal to humanity.
Amphibians can be easily identified by limiting them to a few simple categories:
- Anurans (toads and frogs)
- Caudados (salamanders and axolotls)
- Gimnofiones (caecilians)
Amphibian animals are carnivores , that is, they feed on other animals such as mollusks and arthropods. To consume them, they have a large mouth that can count on teeth and tongue to catch their prey, which they will generally swallow without chewing.
Amphibians can be found in very humid ecosystems, where there are bodies of stagnant water or streams, in which the flow is slow and narrow. It can be rainforests, swamps, and some forests. There they abound and coexist with other species.
20 examples of amphibian animals
- Axolotl
- Bufo Marinus
- River crab
- Chinhai Espinosa Newt
- Eungella Day Frog
- Harlequin frog
- False newt jalapa
- Marbled newt
- Sagalla Caecilian
- Salamander
- Anderson salamander
- Common toad
- Suriname toad
- Mount Nimba Toad
- Mexican cecilia or tapalcua
- Cecilia from Koh Tao
- Amphumans
- Proteus
- Gallipato
- Hairy frog
