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The origins and evolutionary relationships between the three main groups of amphibians are hotly debated. A molecular phylogeny based on rDNA analysis dating from 2005 suggests that salamanders and caecilians are more closely related to each other than they are to frogs, and the divergence of the three groups took place in the Paleozoic or early Mesozoic before the breakup of the ...
[6] [11] Nevertheless, Haeckel considered the caecilians to be closely related to what he called Lissamphibia (gr. λισσός, smooth), which is now called Batrachia and includes frogs and salamanders. In the early to mid 20th century, a biphyletic origin of amphibians (and thus of tetrapods in general) was favoured.
Caecilians have small or absent eyes, with only a single known class of photoreceptors, and their vision is limited to dark-light perception. [17] [18] Unlike other modern amphibians (frogs and salamanders) the skull is compact and solid, with few large openings between plate-like cranial bones. The snout is pointed and bullet-shaped, used to ...
Blue poison dart frog. Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν herpetón, meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (including snakes, lizards, turtles, crocodilians, and tuataras).
When Gerobatrachus was first described in 2008, it was incorporated into a phylogenetic analysis that found it to be the sister taxon or closest relative of Batrachia, an evolutionary group that includes living frogs and salamanders but not caecilians, which are the third major lineage of modern amphibians (the three main groups of modern ...
It belongs to a lineage believed to have given rise to the three living branches of amphibians - frogs, salamanders and limbless caecilians. While only the skull - measuring around 1.2 inches (3 ...
The discovery of the new amphibian species could provide some answers to how frogs and salamanders evolved to get their special characteristics today, the authors wrote in the paper.
The temnospondyl Eryops had sturdy limbs to support its body on land Red-eyed tree frog (Agalychnis callidryas) with limbs and feet specialised for climbing Japanese giant salamander (Andrias japonicus), a primitive salamander The bright colours of the common reed frog (Hyperolius viridiflavus) are typical of a toxic species Wallace's flying frog (Rhacophorus nigropalmatus) can parachute to ...