Amphibians are a major clade of tetrapod vertebrates (class Amphibia) encompassing anurans (frogs and toads), caudates (salamanders and newts), and gymnophionans (caecilians). They are characterized by permeable, glandular skin that plays key roles in osmoregulation, gas exchange, and secretion of bioactive peptides, making them sensitive bioindicators of environmental change. Most species exhibit biphasic life histories with aquatic, gilled larvae and terrestrial, lung-breathing adults, though direct development and paedomorphosis also occur. Amphibians occupy pivotal positions in trophic networks and evolutionary biology, representing the earliest diverging extant lineage of tetrapods and providing critical models for studies of metamorphosis, regeneration, endocrine disruption, and emerging infectious diseases such as chytridiomycosis.
Maintaining connections between natural habitats may support beneficial microbes that help wildlife defend against disease. In a new study of tropical amphibians, a team led by Penn State biologists found that amphibians ...
Ecology
3 hours ago
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Some animals can regrow lost body parts. Salamanders and frog tadpoles can rebuild entire limbs after amputation. Mammals cannot. For decades, biologists have tried to understand why. Now a team led by Can Aztekin at EPFL ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 9, 2026
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Researchers have discovered a new species of glassfrog in Ecuador—the Dajomes glassfrog—named after Neisi Dajomes, the first Ecuadorian woman to receive an Olympic gold medal, which she won in Tokyo 2020 in women's 76 kg ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 8, 2026
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Why are frogs diverse in some parts of Africa's rainforests and less so in others? The patterns of cooling and glaciation during the last ice age would probably not have been your first answer or even your last-ditch guess, ...
Evolution
Apr 7, 2026
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James Cook University researchers have tested frog housing and nursery preferences in the Wet Tropics rainforest of North Queensland, with frogs finding the thermal regulation of concrete shelters to be the perfect tropical ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 2, 2026
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Scientists have discovered a new species of miniature marsupial frog in the Peruvian Amazon that carries its young in a natural pouch on its back, a research institute reported Wednesday.
Plants & Animals
Apr 2, 2026
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As biologists know, nature can take its sweet time explaining itself. Andrew Gillis, associate scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), has been investigating how the paired fins of fishes evolved for nearly 20 ...
Evolution
Apr 1, 2026
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Curtin University research has found farmers making small changes to how they give water to cattle in semi-arid regions could halt the spread of one of Australia's most damaging invasive species—all without disrupting farming ...
Ecology
Mar 30, 2026
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The ability to sense environmental temperature, which helps animals move away from suboptimal locations and find those with ideal temperatures, involves various channels on sensory neurons that open at specific temperature ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 25, 2026
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For centuries, unusual animal behavior before earthquakes has been reported worldwide. Livestock becoming restless, wildlife disappearing and snakes emerging from hibernation in the middle of winter. For a long time, scientists ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 21, 2026
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