AMPHIBIANS

  

Hello everybody! Today we’re going to look at a truly amazing group of vertebrates... When they’re born they usually live in water... but when they grow up and become adults they spend most of their time on land. We present - the Amphibians!
All amphibians have some common characteristics that you should know about so you can recognize and differentiate them.
Amphibians have thin, bare skin, with no hairs and scales to protect them. Most have four legs and a membrane between their toes that allows them to move much better in the water.
Amphibians are oviparous, but they don’t incubate their eggs after laying them... they abandon them and don’t care for their young. Not very good parents, huh?
When they hatch, they’re small larvae and live in water. Slowly... very slowly... their bodies go through a process called metamorphosis.
During this process, the body of the amphibian... changes... their front and rear legs, their limbs, grow... and their heads and their bodies develop, so they finally look like their parents.
In the early stages of their lives... amphibians breathe through gills, but when they grow up and become adults... they breathe with their lungs. The problem is, their lungs are very small, and cannot get all the oxygen they need to live. But nature is very clever... and has solved this problem by allowing them to breathe and get the oxygen they need... through their skin. That’s why they need to be near water - to keep their skin wet.
In the early stages of their life, some amphibians are herbivores, but when they grow up... most become carnivores. So they need to hunt...
Some have a long, sticky tongue they shoot out to capture prey.
Aren’t amphibians fascinating? And also a bit strange?!
So let’s remember the most important characteristics...
Amphibians are vertebrates; they’re oviparous; in the early stages of their life they live in water as larvae, but slowly they change until they look just like their parents. This process of change is called metamorphosis.
Amphibians are carnivores, so they have to hunt to eat; they have thin, smooth skin, and breathe through their skin and with their lungs.
Amphibians are so interesting, aren’t they?