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AmphibiansExtant Early Triassic first appearancesTaxa named by Ernst Haeckel

Lissamphibia

Adapted from Wikipedia · Explorer experience

A colorful glass frog species known as Centrolene buckleyi, showing its unique translucent skin.

Lissamphibia are all the amazing amphibians we see today! They include three main groups: the Salientia, which are frogs and their extinct relatives, the Caudata, which are salamanders and their extinct relatives, and the Gymnophiona, which are the limbless caecilians and their extinct relatives. These wonderful creatures live all around the world in many different places, like forests, ponds, and even underground.

Scientists love studying Lissamphibia because they help us learn about how animals changed over millions of years. Some people think an ancient animal called Gerobatrachus hottoni might have been one of their early relatives. Others believe the oldest known Lissamphibians are Triadobatrachus and Czatkobatrachus, which lived a very long time ago in the Early Triassic.

Lissamphibians have some cool features that make them special. They often have special joints at the back of their skull. They also have two kinds of skin glands: mucous and granular. Many have fat bodies linked to their gonads and a special way to breathe. Their ribs do not wrap around their bodies, and they can lift their eyes using a special muscle. Some even have a small bone in their skull called an operculum, which may help with hearing and balance.

All modern amphibians—frogs, salamanders, and caecilians—are part of the Lissamphibia group. Scientists think they all came from one ancient group of early four-legged animals. Caecilians split off first, followed later by frogs and salamanders. By studying these amazing animals, scientists can learn more about how life on Earth has changed over time.

Images

An artist's reconstruction of Gerobatrachus, an ancient amphibian, showing what scientists believe it looked like millions of years ago.
An artist’s reconstruction of Rhizodus, a giant freshwater fish that lived during the Carboniferous period in Europe and North America.
An artistic reconstruction of Osteolepis, a ancient fish from the Devonian period.
A detailed pencil drawing of Eusthenopteron, an ancient lobe-finned fish from the Late Devonian period.
Scientific illustration of Tiktaalik rosae, an ancient fish-like creature, showing its features in a detailed drawing.
Scientific illustration of Acanthostega gunnari, one of the earliest known four-legged vertebrates from the Devonian period.
An artist's illustration of Crassigyrinus, an early four-legged creature from the Carboniferous period in Scotland.
An artist’s reconstruction of Eucritta melanolimnetes, an ancient fish-like tetrapod, shown on a white background.
An artist's drawing of Archeria crassidisca, an ancient four-legged creature from over 250 million years ago, shown in a scientific and educational style.
Scientific illustration of Bruktererpeton, an ancient prehistoric animal, resting peacefully.
A scientific illustration of Dissorophus multicinctus, an ancient amphibian from the early Permian period, showing its appearance about 280 million years ago.
Scientific illustration of Georgenthalia, an ancient amphibian from the Permian period, approximately 15 cm long.
An artistic reconstruction of Albanerpeton, an ancient amphibian that lived millions of years ago, showing what scientists believe it looked like.

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Lissamphibia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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