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.
A tiny greenish, nocturnal frog that thrives in coffee plantations has been discovered in Costa Rica's central Pacific region, where it also faces risks from agrochemicals used in farming.
Ecology
Aug 8, 2026
0
44
Many people are blissfully unaware that the world's frogs and amphibians are fighting their own deadly pandemic. In fact, this fungal disease—chytridiomycosis, or chytrid for short—is the worst wildlife disease on record.
Plants & Animals
Aug 5, 2026
0
12
For the first time, researchers have discovered a new species of extinct amphibian from Ice Age Los Angeles at La Brea Tar Pits: a spadefoot toad they have named Spea labreae. Only one other extinct Pleistocene amphibian ...
Ecology
Aug 5, 2026
1
281
An international team of scientists has described seven new species of Madagascar's elusive diamond frogs (Rhombophryne), revealing that one of the island's most mysterious groups of amphibians is even more diverse than previously ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 3, 2026
0
74
Minor cuts and scrapes usually heal in time, but losing a finger or a whole limb? For most vertebrates, that's a done deal. Unless, of course, you've got the self-healing machinery of an axolotl.
Molecular & Computational biology
Jul 28, 2026
0
11
African gray foam-nest treefrogs (Chiromantis xerampelina) are common across the savannas and dry forests of southeastern Africa. Despite their unremarkable outward appearance, these small animals display some of the most ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 23, 2026
0
8
Volunteers armed with chisels, brushes and protective goggles chip away at rock encasing the bones of a massive prehistoric amphibian in a glass-walled laboratory on the ground floor of Warsaw's Copernicus Science Centre.
Paleontology & Fossils
Jul 22, 2026
0
225
Analysis of more than 3 million toad calls from locations across Australia gives rare insights into toad breeding behavior—and offers new hope for halting their advance. James Cook University ecology researchers discovered ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 21, 2026
0
8
The mystery of why some amphibian populations recover following outbreaks of a deadly fungus has been solved in a new study led by University College London (UCL), ZSL and Imperial College London.
Plants & Animals
Jul 14, 2026
0
38
Within every muscle of every living species with a backbone, a protein called myosin tugs on a partner protein to generate a muscle contraction. This function, discovered in mammals a century ago, has been presumed by scientists ...
Evolution
Jul 14, 2026
0
26
