Amphibia

Article By:

Cash, W. Ben Department of Biology, Maryville College, Maryville, Tennessee.

Zweifel, Richard G. Department of Herpetology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York.

Smithson, T. R. Science Maths and Information Technology, Cambridge Regional College, Kings Hedges Campus, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Last reviewed:August 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.029600

One of the major classes composing the superclass Tetrapoda of the subphylum Vertebrata, and including frogs, toads, salamanders, and caecilians. Amphibians, that is, members of the class Amphibia, are tetrapod vertebrates. Modern amphibians number more than 8000 species and are assigned to the subclass Lissamphibia. They are further subdivided into three main groups: Anura or Salientia (frogs and toads, which comprise almost 90% of all amphibians); Urodela or Caudata (salamanders, including newts; Fig. 1); and Apoda or Gymnophiona (caecilians). Fossil amphibian forms have been assigned to various extinct groupings (for example, Temnospondyli) that vary according to different classification schemes. See also: Anura; Apoda; Lissamphibia; Origins of modern amphibians; Temnospondyli; Tetrapoda; Urodela; Vertebrata

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