Hello :) What's an amphibian you ask? Well here it comes! I promise, this blog won't be as long as the last one..Unless I just get carried away:) For you to get a quick pic or idea of what we're talking about.. An example of an amphibian, A really common amphibian, is a frog:D And what do you think of when you see them?? Oh yeah! EWWW! Slimey grossy tiny weirdos, right? Well, I'm not saying they're not.. Just saying your gonna learn about these slimey grossy tiny weirdos:) And what's coming up? Christmas of course! What else? New years.. Duh. What does this mean? Ahhh my last post of 2011! Enjoy the post! :D
Ahh! It's a pink frog! Heehee. Well we're going over two simple things today! And here they are:)
What your learning :D :D !!
- Amphibians' Characteristics! :D
- The.. 3 groups of Amphibians! :D
LET'S START! :)
First up, let me point out that amphibians are vertebrate, or animals with backbones. Okay, first up is on the Amphibians' Characteristics. Yep, so frogs, salamanders, toads, newts, are all Amphibians. Oh, and almost forgot, "Amphibians" means "Living a double life" in greek. Well first let's talk about metamorphosis. Well, most amphibians split their lives, between land, and water:) Like frogs for example, they start out in these tiny eggshells.
Ummm... Well aren't we lucky we aren't born like that? Eww! But do they look like this their whole life? Luckily not! Actually, they look extremely different from when they are first born, to when they go through metamorphosis. Wow long word.. 13 letters!
Oh yeah! I forgot. What is it you ask? Well it's just a point in it's life where it basically.. Matures! By matures I mean develop. Grow. Evolve. Prosper. Thrive. However way you put it, it really doesn't matter! But all amphibians go through it! Everything grows. In the first part of their life, they live in the water. Why is that? Because they get hatched in the water in those little eggs that I showed you. Plus, they can't go on land, because they haven't developed a pair of lungs yet.
Not exactly identical.. But believe it or not that's how they start out! So anyway, they begin in the water, then when they develop lungs, They can then get their bums out of the water, and be free on land! :) But later, when they are ready to have their little eggies.. They go back to the water to hatch em! And then the hole cycle starts again! Easy.. Right? Yep so first an Egg, Then tadpoles.. which is those tiny slithering things you see next to that frogs. After time of growing.. It's work is finally done! It's a frog already:) Let's move on though..
They're Cold-Blooded! :D
Yep! You heard it. They're exothermic. Don't get confused, it's just a fancy science-y way of saying Cold-Blooded. This isn't new to you though! We learned about it on the last blog we did! It means that their body temperature is affected by the environment! So to cure that, if cold, they have to chillax in the sun to make them a little more, cozy :) And warm :) And when hot, it's simple.. They chillax in maybe a shady area.
S-K-I-N-! SKIN! :)
Did I not mention? Amphibians are out a lot night. At night because I don't see a sunshine there.. So there's another place to chillax. They do this avoid getting their skin getting all dry and wrinkly! Like this!
I suggest some.. lotion. But anyway, about their skin.. Amphibians, like a lot of animals, shed their skin. Yep! Perfectly fine, right? Wrong! They eat it! Yup!! They shed on it, and munch munch munch :) But amphibian's skin are very thin! Not thin.. Very very thin! Thin enough that they don't drink water, because it goes right through them! Yeah, they're skin absorbs water, so they don't have to drink it. Their skin is thin enough that things can go through it! Wow.
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3 Groups Of Amphibians! :)
3, only 3 groups of amphibians! The first one is Anurans! Which is basically a fancy word for saying Toads and Frogs! So Anurans have short bodies, strong legs, and lacks tails. :)
The second one is called Urodelas. These are more like salamanders and newts. They have long bodies, short legs, and flattened tails for swimming.:)
Last, but not least is Apoda. These are more worm-like things. The amphibians in this group are called "caecilians". They are worm-like, but kinda look like snakes.
Well that's basically it! Hope you enjoyed my.. (tear, tear) last blog of 2011:D Come back in 2012 to still look at my awesome blogs:) Have a happy Christmas!/Break!/New years! :D
