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🦁 Animal world 🐊 Reptiles and amphibians

Amphibians

Amphibians

πŸ“– In short

Amphibians are animals that spend part of their lives in water and part on land. Frogs, toads and salamanders are all amphibians. Their skin is smooth and moist, usually with no scales, and they lay their eggs in water.

🀩 Did you know?

  • The Japanese giant salamander is one of the biggest amphibians, more than 1.5 meters long.
  • Most amphibians are no more than 15 centimeters long.
  • The first amphibians appeared about 360 million years ago.
  • Some colorful forest frogs are very poisonous.

πŸ”Ž Find out more

🌟 Two lives in one

Most amphibians start life in water: out of the egg comes a baby that breathes with gills like a fish. Then its body changes, it breathes with lungs, and it comes out onto land.

πŸ” Skin that breathes

Amphibians drink and breathe a little through their moist skin, so their skin must stay damp, and they live near water or in damp places.

πŸ’‘ Cold-blooded

Amphibians are cold-blooded, which means their body temperature changes with the air's temperature. That's why they sleep through cold winters or hide in the mud.

🎯 Three groups

Amphibians are divided into frogs and toads, which have no tail; salamanders, which have a long tail; and strange legless animals that look like worms.

🧩 Test yourself

1 Which of these animals is an amphibian?

2 Why do amphibians live near water?

3 Most amphibians are no more than ?? centimeters long.

4 Which picture shows β€œAmphibians”?

🦁 Discover more

πŸ“· Picture sources: Wikimedia Commons