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The numbers of species cited above follows Frost and the total number of known (living) amphibian species as of March 31, 2019, is exactly 8,000, [12] of which nearly 90% are frogs. [ 13 ] With the phylogenetic classification, the taxon Labyrinthodontia has been discarded as it is a polyparaphyletic group without unique defining features apart ...
They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arboreal or freshwater aquatic ecosystems. Thus amphibians typically start out as larvae living in water, but some species have developed behavioural adaptations to bypass this. A list of amphibians organizes the class of amphibian by family and ...
The largest living amphibian is the 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) South China giant salamander (Andrias sligoi), but this is dwarfed by prehistoric temnospondyls such as Mastodonsaurus which could reach up to 6 m (20 ft) in length. The study of amphibians is called batrachology, while the study of both reptiles and amphibians is called herpetology.
All extant (living) amphibians belong to the monophyletic subclass Lissamphibia, with three living orders: Anura (frogs and toads), Urodela (salamanders), and Gymnophiona . Evolved to be mostly semiaquatic , amphibians have adapted to inhabit a wide variety of habitats , with most species living in freshwater , wetland or terrestrial ecosystems ...
There are more than 220 living species of caecilian classified in 10 families. Gymnophionomorpha is a recently coined name for the corresponding total group which includes Gymnophiona as well as a few extinct stem-group caecilians (extinct amphibians whose closest living relatives are caecilians but are not descended from any caecilian).
Desert ecology is the study of interactions between both biotic and abiotic components of desert environments. A desert ecosystem is defined by interactions between organisms, the climate in which they live, and any other non-living influences on the habitat. Deserts are arid regions that are generally associated with warm temperatures; however ...
Traditionally considered a subclass of the class Amphibia, modern classification systems recognize that labyrinthodonts are not a formal natural group exclusive of other tetrapods. Instead, they consistute an evolutionary grade (a paraphyletic group ), ancestral to living tetrapods such as lissamphibians (modern amphibians) and amniotes ...
Around 750 species in 160 genera and 30 families are troglobitic, and are found in almost all suitable habitats, but with their centres of diversity in the Mediterranean Basin, southeastern North America and the Caribbean. [31] In populations found in Benthic ecosystems, amphipods play an essential role in controlling brown algae growth. [27]