Amphibians

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Amphibians

• By Sean Ostling and Jessica Wilson

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What is an Amphibian?

• An amphibian is any cold blooded, smooth skinned,
  tetrapod, vertebrae animal. As babies, they hatch
  as an aquatic creature. However, it then develops
  air-breathing lungs as it matures and enters
  adulthood. They live on land and in water.
• Amphibians are part of the Kingdom Animalia,
  Phylum Chordata, and Class Amphibia.

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Examples
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Polygenetic Tree
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Big-Eyed Tree Frog Chinese Giant Salamander Chinese Fire Belly Newt
Kingdom Animalia Animalia Animalia
Phylum Chordata Chordata Chordata
Class Amphibia Amphibia Amphibia
Order Anura Caudata Caudata
Family Hyperoliidae Cryptobranchidae Salamandridae
Genus Leptopelis Andrias Cynops
Species L. vermiculatus A. davidianus C. orientalis 5
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Life Cycle of the Chinese Giant Salamander

• Two adult salamanders mate (sexual reproduction).
  
• Adult female lays eggs underwater in a plant.
• Eggs hatch into gilled larva. The offspring
  cannot breathe on land yet until its lungs
  develop.
• Once the salamander's lungs have developed, it
  can move to the land.

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Life Cycle of the Chinese Giant Salamander

• These salamanders live in dark, muddy, rock
  crevices along riverbanks. They are mostly active
  at night at eat smaller fish, smaller
  salamanders, worms, insects, crayfish and snails.
• Once the salamander is an adult, it will then
  mate.
• The Chinese giant salamander has a life span of
  up to 30 years. They grow up to 1.8 meters long
  and weigh up to 145 pounds.

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Big-Eyed Tree Frog (Diet and Locomotion)

• Big-eyed tree frogs diets include small
  crickets, fruit flies, mealworms, wax worms, and
  any other insects small enough for them to
  ingest.
• Big-eyed tree frogs wait for a passing insect.
  Once an insect comes, they stick out their long,
  sticky tongue at a high speed, trapping the
  insect. Once the insect is trapped, they swallow
  it whole. Most frogs do not have teeth.

• The Big-Eyed Tree Frog is commonly known as the
  monkey frog for its jumping abilities. It moves
  by small and large hops. They are tetrapods.

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Fire Belly Newt (Diet and Locomotion)

• Fire belly newts will eat almost any small insect
  and invertebrate that they can find. Their diet
  includes earthworms, bloodworms, spiders,
  millipedes, and centipedes.

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Fire Belly Newt (Diet and Locomotion)

• The fire belly newt has a long tail and a large
  fin that allow them to be strong swimmers. Their
  black back and bright red spotted belly acts as a
  warning towards other predators.
• On land, they move by walking on their four legs.
  They are tetrapods.

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Circulation

• Amphibians have a double-circuited circulation
  system. The heart is three chambered, which
  includes the right atria, left atria, and one
  ventricle.
• The blood is pumped to the lungs, becomes
  oxygenated, comes back to the heart, and then is
  pumped throughout the amphibian body by
  travelling through veins, arteries, and blood
  vessels.

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Circulation Continued

• Amphibians are cold blooded. Therefore, they do
  not need as much energy. Unlike humans,
  amphibians do not need lots of energy in order to
  keep their bodies warm. Their body temperature is
  dependent on the temperature of the environment.
• The one ventricle in the heart is not efficient,
  but that is okay for the amphibians because not
  as much energy is required.

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Gas Exchanges

• 3 ways to breathe
• Through their gills
• Air diffusion through their skin
• With their lungs
• They inhale oxygen, and exhale carbon dioxide.

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Gills

• Most amphibians are born with gills and use their
  gills as babies. For example, tadpoles. As they
  grow, the gills seal and turn into lungs.
• However, salamanders and newts keep their gills
  into adulthood.

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Diffusion Through Skin

• Diffusion through the skin helps amphibians
  thrive on land and in water. However, it puts
  them at risk of suffocating if their moist
  environment becomes dry. Dry skin does not allow
  oxygen and carbon dioxide transfer.
• Their permeable skin leaves amphibians vulnerable
  to toxins in their environment.

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Digestive System

• Amphibians take in food through their mouths by
  usually swallowing their prey whole with some
  chewing done in the oral cavity. However, this
  depending on the species. They can do this
  because they have very large stomachs.
• A strong sphincter separates the oral cavity from
  the esophagus, which is separated from the
  stomach from another sphincter. The relatively
  short esophagus is lined with cilia. The cilia
  helps transfer food into the stomach.

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Digestive System

• Like all mammals, the liver functions as the
  central metabolic organ that regulates blood
  sugar. This is a main source of energy for the
  amphibian.
• The liver of amphibians also produces the final
  metabolic products and carries them through the
  vascular system to the kidneys, and finally to
  the exit of wastes.

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Waste Execration

• Amphibians get rid of their waste the same way
  most mammals including humans do. This is by
  feces and urine.
• Amphibians have a tubular system.
• Amphibians also rid themselves of a lot of waste
  by sweating from their sweat glands. There is
  lots of waste is in sweat.

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Classification Changes

• There have been no classification changes
  involving amphibians.

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Interesting facts

• There are between 5,000 and 6,000 species of
  known amphibians.
• The first amphibians appeared approximately 370
  million years ago.
• A group of salamanders known as the plethodontids
  have no lungs.

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Interesting Facts

• Certain frogs can jump up to 20 times their own
  body length in a single leap.
• Some frogs and salamanders have tongues 10x the
  length of their body.
• Salamanders can re-grow their toes and tails.
• The world's largest frog is the Goliath Frog. It
  lives in Africa and can grow up to 33cm and can
  weigh up to 33 kg.

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Bibliography

• http//animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amph
  ibians/
• http//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6804273
• https//sites.google.com/site/lastminuteamphibian/
  circulatory-system
• http//www.mcwdn.org/Animals/Amphibian.html
• http//kids.sandiegozoo.org/animals/amphibians
• http//www.iucnredlist.org/amphibians
• http//sleep1937.tripod.com/id1.html