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.
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
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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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Across the animal kingdom, sound is more than communication—it's a signal of survival and success. From birds and primates to insects, fish, and amphibians, animals broadcast acoustic "advertisements" to defend territory, ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 12, 2026
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The genus Gracixalus belongs to the family of Old World Tree Frogs and is geographically dispersed from Myanmar and western Thailand to Laos, Vietnam, and further to southern China. Despite the considerable amount of research ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 10, 2026
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A "peculiar" ancient relative of the crocodile which experts believe began life on four legs before, in adulthood, it learned how to walk on just two has been revealed in a new study. Named Sonselasuchus cedrus, this archaic ...
Evolution
Mar 9, 2026
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When a coastal carpet python was brought into a wildlife hospital in South East Queensland in August 2024, vets were confronted with something they didn't recognize. The python had damaged scales, crusted lesions across its ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 4, 2026
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In a dry riverbed in Brazil, in a dense forest near the Amazon, a team of paleontologists found a fossilized jawbone from an ancient animal. Over the course of their fieldwork, they found eight similar bones, each around ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Mar 3, 2026
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When a new species is discovered, it's tempting to imagine an adventure novel, said Chan Kin Onn of Michigan State University. "Most people have this image of an intrepid explorer braving an isolated mountain or some other ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 3, 2026
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The Kimberley region in the northwest corner of Western Australia is full of rugged ranges and gorges, and long stretches of red soil and rocky ground. The dry seasons are long, and the wet seasons often flood the Martuwarra ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Feb 23, 2026
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