Amphibians

Amphibians

KNOWN SPECIES

8,566

0.36% of our world's living things are amphibians

CHARACTERISTICS

animals with a backbone (vertebrates)
they have small, rootless teeth on their jaws and the roofs of their mouths that are replaced throughout life
they usually produce gelatinous egg masses, called spawn

SIZE RANGE

less than 0.40 inch to about 5 feet (1 centimeter to about 160 centimeters)

WHERE THEY LIVE

in most freshwater environments and most land environments, usually close to water
highest diversity in tropics

Here are just SOME of the world’s amphibians:

White's treefrog
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Ranoidea caerulea

long-tailed salamander
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Eurycea longicauda

American toad
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Anaxyrus americanus

red spotted newt
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Notophthalmus viridescens

blue poison frog
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Dendrobates auratus

Goliath frog
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Conraua goliath

hellbender
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Cryptobranchus alleganiensis

Guess what?

Populations of frogs appear to be declining in many parts of the world due to habitat loss, global climate change, and the spread of disease.

Image credits

Invent a story about an endangered species. Then draw and write about it!

Come explore three different rain forest habitats.

Herpetologist Chris Raxworthy answers kids' questions.