Allama Iqbal open university Islamabad

Course code: 6454

Assignment No. 02
Program: Bed 2.5 Science (Autumn 2022)
Name: Sarfaraz Ahmed
Course name: Biology-IV
Roll No/I’D 20BJA00109
Tutor Name: Tanveer Ahmed Sahib

Q.1 Describe external structure and locomotion in class Polychaeta.

Polychaeta (/ˌpɒlɪˈkiːtə/) is a paraphyletic class of
generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle
worms or polychaetes (/ˈpɒlɪˌkiːts/). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions
called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made of chitin. More
than 10,000 species are described in this class. Common representatives include
the lugworm (Arenicola marina) and the sandworm or clam worm Alitta.
Polychaetes as a class are robust and widespread, with species that live in the coldest ocean
temperatures of the abyssal plain, to forms which tolerate the extremely high temperatures
near hydrothermal vents. Polychaetes occur throughout the Earth's oceans at all depths,
from forms that live as plankton near the surface, to a 2- to 3-cm specimen (still unclassified)
observed by the robot ocean probe Nereus at the bottom of the Challenger Deep, the
deepest known spot in the Earth's oceans.[2] Only 168 species (less than 2% of all
polychaetes) are known from fresh waters.[3]
Polychaetes are segmented worms, generally less than 10 cm (4 in) in length, although
ranging at the extremes from 1 mm (0.04 in) to 3 m (10 ft), in Eunice aphroditois. They can
sometimes be brightly coloured, and may be iridescent or even luminescent. Each segment
bears a pair of paddle-like and highly vascularized parapodia, which are used for movement
and, in many species, act as the worm's primary respiratory surfaces. Bundles of bristles,
called chaetae, project from the parapodia.
However, polychaetes vary widely from this generalised pattern, and can display a range of
different body forms. The most generalised polychaetes are those that crawl along the
bottom, but others have adapted to many different ecological niches, including burrowing,
swimming, pelagic life, tube-dwelling or boring, commensalism, and parasitism, requiring
various modifications to their body structures.
The head, or prostomium, is relatively well developed, compared with other annelids. It
projects forward over the mouth, which therefore lies on the animal's underside. The head
normally includes two to four pair of eyes, although some species are blind. These are
typically fairly simple structures, capable of distinguishing only light and dark, although
some species have large eyes with lenses that may be capable of more sophisticated
vision, including the Alciopids' complex eyes which rival cephalopod and vertebrate eyes.
The head also includes a pair of antennae, tentacle-like palps, and a pair of pits lined
with cilia, known as "nuchal organs". These latter appear to be chemoreceptors, and help
the worm to seek out food.
Internal anatomy and physiology

General anatomy of a polychaete

Phyllodoce rosea
The outer surface of the body wall consists of a simple columnar epithelium covered by a
thin cuticle. Underneath this, in order, are a thin layer of connective tissue, a layer of circular
muscle, a layer of longitudinal muscle, and a peritoneum surrounding the body cavity.
Additional oblique muscles move the parapodia. In most species the body cavity is divided
into separate compartments by sheets of peritoneum between each segment, but in some
species it's more continuous.
The mouth of polychaetes is located on the peristomium, the segment behind
the prostomium, and varies in form depending on their diets, since the group includes
predators, herbivores, filter feeders, scavengers, and parasites. In general, however, they
possess a pair of jaws and a pharynx that can be rapidly everted, allowing the worms to grab
food and pull it into their mouths. In some species, the pharynx is modified into a
lengthy proboscis. The digestive tract is a simple tube, usually with a stomach part way
along.
The smallest species, and those adapted to burrowing, lack gills, breathing only through
their body surfaces. Most other species have external gills, often associated with the
parapodia.
A simple but well-developed circulatory system is usually present. The two main blood
vessels furnish smaller vessels to supply the parapodia and the gut. Blood flows forward in
the dorsal vessel, above the gut, and returns down the body in the ventral vessel, beneath
the gut. The blood vessels themselves are contractile, helping to push the blood along, so
most species have no need of a heart. In a few cases, however, muscular pumps analogous
to a heart are found in various parts of the system. Conversely, some species have little or no
circulatory system at all, transporting oxygen in the coelomic fluid that fills their body
cavities.
The blood may be colourless, or have any of three different respiratory pigments. The most
common of these is haemoglobin, but some groups have haemerythrin or the green-
coloured chlorocruorin, instead.
The nervous system consists of a single or double ventral nerve cord running the length of
the body, with ganglia and a series of small nerves in each segment. The brain is relatively
large, compared with that of other annelids, and lies in the upper part of the head.
An endocrine gland is attached to the ventral posterior surface of the brain, and appears to
be involved in reproductive activity. In addition to the sensory organs on the head,
photosensitive eye spots, statocysts, and numerous additional sensory nerve endings, most
likely in involved with the sense of touch, also occur on the body.
Polychaetes have a varying number of protonephridia or metanephridia for excreting waste,
which in some cases can be relatively complex in structure. The body also contains greenish
"chloragogen" tissue, similar to that found in oligochaetes, which appears to function in
metabolism, in a similar fashion to that of the vertebrate liver.
The cuticle is constructed from cross-linked fibres of collagen and may be 200 nm to 13 mm
thick. Their jaws are formed from sclerotised collagen, and their setae from
sclerotised chitin.

Q.2 What are issues in Phylogeny of arthropods.? In what ways Arthropods resembles
with Annelids.
The arthropods share many features with the phylum Annelida. Both arthropods and
annelids are segmented, and members of the annelid class Polychaeta have a pair of
appendages on each segment. The plan of the nervous system in arthropods is very similar to
that of annelids, and the basic plan in both groups shows a tubular, dorsal heart, which is
then lost or modified in some. Annelids possess a coelom, which in arthropods is present only
in the embryo. Its absence is probably related to the evolution of the exoskeleton and to the
change in the mode of locomotion.

The first fossil arthropods appear in the Cambrian Period (541.0 million to 485.4 million
years ago) and are represented by trilobites, merostomes, and crustaceans. Also present are
some enigmatic arthropods that do not fit into any of the existing subphyla. The earliest
terrestrial arachnid is from the Devonian Period (419.2 million to 358.9 million years ago),
but it does not belong to any living order. Though a myriapod-like fossil has been found from
the Devonian Period, it is not until the Carboniferous Period (358.9 million to 298.9 million
years ago) that there is a good record of centipedes, millipedes, and insects. Specimens of
plant-feeding mites dated to the Triassic Period (251.9 million to 201.3 million years ago)
are among the oldest arthropod fossils preserved in amber.

Most zoologists recognize the trilobites, chelicerates, crustaceans, and myriapods as four
major lines of arthropod evolution, but there is little agreement as to how those lines are
related to one another or, indeed, if they had evolutionary origins independent from those of
the annelids.
Classification
Distinguishing taxonomic features
Modification, specialization, number, and appearance of body segments and appendages
(especially anterior ones such as antennae and mouthparts) are important criteria in
distinguishing arthropod classes. Other structural features of taxonomic importance include
location of the gonopores, structure of the head, and adaptations of the respiratory and
excretory systems. In the classification below, the group marked with a dagger (†) is wholly
extinct and known only from fossils.

Q.3 Explain salient features of class Asteroidea.

The organisms belonging to the phylum Echinodermata are exclusively marine. Till date,
there have been no traces of any terrestrial or freshwater Echinoderms.
These are multicellular organisms with well-developed organ systems. All the animals
belonging to this phylum share the same characteristics features. They are colourful
organisms with unique shapes. They are ecologically and geologically very important.
The Echinoderms are found in sea-depths as well as in the intertidal zones. An interesting
feature of the phylum Echinodermata is that all the organisms belonging to this phylum are
marine. None of the organisms is freshwater or marine.
The water vascular system present in echinoderms accounts for gaseous exchange,
circulation of nutrients and waste elimination.

Characteristics of Echinodermata
1. They have a star-like appearance and are spherical or elongated.
2. They are exclusively marine animals.
3. The organisms are spiny-skinned.
4. They exhibit organ system level of organization. Most members have a
circulatory system as well as a digestive system.
 5. They are triploblastic and have a coelomic cavity.
6. The skeleton is made up of calcium carbonate.
7. They have an open circulatory system.
8. They respire through gills or cloacal respiratory tree.
9. They have a simple radial nervous system and the excretory system are absent.
10. The body is unsegmented with no distinct head. The mouth is present on the ventral
side while the anus is on the dorsal side.
11. The tube feet aids in locomotion.
12. They reproduce sexually through gametic fusion and asexually
through regeneration. Fertilization is external.
13. The development is indirect.
14. They possess the power of regeneration.
15. They have poorly developed sense organs. These include chemoreceptors, tactile
organs, terminal tentacles, etc.

Classification of Echinodermata

Asteroidea
 They have a flattened, star-shaped body with five arms.
 They have tube feet with suckers.
 They respire through papulae.
 The body comprises of calcareous plates and movable spines.
 Pedicellaria is present.
 Eg., Asterias, Zoroaster

Ophiuroidea
 The body is flat with pentamerous discs.
 The tube feet are devoid of suckers.
 They respire through Bursae.
 The long arms are demarcated from the central disc.
 Eg., Ophiderma, Amphuria

Echinoidea
 The body is hemispherical.
 The tube feet contains suckers.
  The body does not have arms.
 The body has a compact skeleton and movable spines.
 Eg., Echinus, Cidaris

Holothuroidea
 The body is long and cylindrical.
 The arms, spines, and pedicellariae are absent.
 They respire through the cloacal respiratory tree.
 They possess tube feet with suckers.
 Eg., Cucumaria, Holothuria

Crinoidea
 The body is star-shaped.
 The tube feet have no suckers.
 The arms are bifurcated.
 Spines and pedicellariae are absent.
 Eg., Neometra, Antedon

Q.4 Give detailed account on reproduction and development in fishes.

The methods of reproduction in fishes are varied, but most fishes lay a large number of
small eggs, fertilized and scattered outside of the body. The eggs of pelagic fishes usually
remain suspended in the open water. Many shore and freshwater fishes lay eggs on the
bottom or among plants. Some have adhesive eggs. The mortality of the young and
especially of the eggs is very high, and often only a few individuals grow to maturity out of
hundreds, thousands, and in some cases millions of eggs laid.

Males produce sperm, usually as a milky white substance called milt, in two (sometimes
one) testes within the body cavity. In bony fishes a sperm duct leads from each testis to a
urogenital opening behind the vent or anus. In sharks and rays and in cyclostomes the duct
leads to a cloaca. Sometimes the pelvic fins are modified to help transmit the milt to the
eggs at the female’s vent or on the substrate where the female has placed them. Sometimes
accessory organs are used to fertilize females internally—for example, the claspers of many
sharks and rays.

In the females the eggs are formed in two ovaries (sometimes only one) and pass through
the ovaries to the urogenital opening and to the outside. In some fishes the eggs are
fertilized internally but are shed before development takes place. Members of about a dozen
families each of bony fishes (teleosts) and sharks bear live young. Many skates and rays also
bear live young. In some bony fishes the eggs simply develop within the female, the
young emerging when the eggs hatch (ovoviviparous). Others develop within the ovary and
are nourished by ovarian tissues after hatching (viviparous). There are also other methods
utilized by fishes to nourish young within the female. In all live-bearers the young are born at
a relatively large size and are few in number. In one family of primarily marine fishes,
the surfperches from the Pacific coast of North America, Japan, and Korea, the males of at
least one species are born sexually mature, although they are not fully grown.

Some fishes are hermaphroditic—an individual producing both sperm and eggs, usually at
different stages of its life. Self-fertilization, however, is probably rare.

Successful reproduction and, in many cases, defense of the eggs and the young
are assured by rather stereotypical but often elaborate courtship and parental behaviour,
either by the male or the female or both. Some fishes prepare nests by hollowing out
depressions in the sand bottom (cichlids, for example), build nests with plant materials and
sticky threads excreted by the kidneys (sticklebacks), or blow a cluster of mucus-covered
bubbles at the water surface (gouramis). The eggs are laid in these structures. Some
varieties of cichlids and catfishes incubate eggs in their mouths.

Some fishes, such as salmon, undergo long migrations from the ocean and up large rivers to
spawn in the gravel beds where they themselves hatched (anadromous fishes). Some, such
as the freshwater eels (family Anguillidae), live and grow to maturity in fresh water
and migrate to the sea to spawn (catadromous fishes). Other fishes undertake shorter
migrations from lakes into streams, within the ocean, or enter spawning habitats that they
do not ordinarily occupy in other ways.
Form and function
Body plan

internal structure of fishes

The basic structure and function of the fish body are similar to those of all other vertebrates.
The usual four types of tissues are present: surface or epithelial, connective (bone, cartilage,
and fibrous tissues, as well as their derivative, blood), nerve, and muscle tissues. In addition,
the fish’s organs and organ systems parallel those of other vertebrates.

Study the roles of a fish's scales, swim bladder, and gills in its respiratory system
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The typical fish body is streamlined and spindle-shaped, with an anterior head,
a gill apparatus, and a heart, the latter lying in the midline just below the gill chamber. The
body cavity, containing the vital organs, is situated behind the head in the lower anterior
part of the body. The anus usually marks the posterior termination of the body cavity and
most often occurs just in front of the base of the anal fin. The spinal cord and vertebral
column continue from the posterior part of the head to the base of the tail fin, passing
dorsal to the body cavity and through the caudal (tail) region behind the body cavity. Most
of the body is of muscular tissue, a high proportion of which is necessitated by swimming. In
the course of evolution this basic body plan has been modified repeatedly into the many
varieties of fish shapes that exist today.

The skeleton forms an integral part of the fish’s locomotion system, as well as serving to
protect vital parts. The internal skeleton consists of the skull bones (except for the roofing
bones of the head, which are really part of the external skeleton), the vertebral column, and
the fin supports (fin rays). The fin supports are derived from the external skeleton but will be
treated here because of their close functional relationship to the internal skeleton. The
internal skeleton of cyclostomes, sharks, and rays is of cartilage; that of many fossil groups
and some primitive living fishes is mostly of cartilage but may include some bone. In place of
the vertebral column, the earliest vertebrates had a fully developed notochord, a flexible
stiff rod of viscous cells surrounded by a strong fibrous sheath. During the evolution of
modern fishes the rod was replaced in part by cartilage and then by ossified cartilage. Sharks
and rays retain a cartilaginous vertebral column; bony fishes have spool-shaped vertebrae
that in the more primitive living forms only partially replace the notochord. The skull,
including the gill arches and jaws of bony fishes, is fully, or at least partially, ossified. That of
sharks and rays remains cartilaginous, at times partially replaced by calcium deposits but
never by true bone.

hairyfish
The supportive elements of the fins (basal or radial bones or both) have changed greatly
during fish evolution. Some of these changes are described in the section below (Evolution
and paleontology). Most fishes possess a single dorsal fin on the midline of the back. Many
have two and a few have three dorsal fins. The other fins are the single tail and anal fins and
paired pelvic and pectoral fins. A small fin, the adipose fin, with hairlike fin rays, occurs in
many of the relatively primitive teleosts (such as trout) on the back near the base of the
caudal fin.
The skin
The skin of a fish must serve many functions. It aids in maintaining the osmotic balance,
provides physical protection for the body, is the site of coloration, contains sensory
receptors, and, in some fishes, functions in respiration. Mucous glands, which aid in
maintaining the water balance and offer protection from bacteria, are extremely numerous
in fish skin, especially in cyclostomes and teleosts. Since mucous glands are present in the
modern lampreys, it is reasonable to assume that they were present in primitive fishes, such
as the ancient Silurian and Devonian agnathans. Protection from abrasion and predation is
another function of the fish skin, and dermal (skin) bone arose early in fish evolution in
response to this need. It is thought that bone first evolved in skin and only later invaded the
cartilaginous areas of the fish’s body, to provide additional support and protection. There is
some argument as to which came first, cartilage or bone, and fossil evidence does not settle
the question. In any event, dermal bone has played an important part in fish evolution and
has different characteristics in different groups of fishes. Several groups are characterized at
least in part by the kind of bony scales they possess.

Scales have played an important part in the evolution of fishes. Primitive fishes usually had
thick bony plates or thick scales in several layers of bone, enamel, and related substances.
Modern teleost fishes have scales of bone, which, while still protective, allow much more
freedom of motion in the body. A few modern teleosts (some catfishes, sticklebacks, and
others) have secondarily acquired bony plates in the skin. Modern and early sharks
possessed placoid scales, a relatively primitive type of scale with a toothlike structure,
consisting of an outside layer of enamel-like substance (vitrodentine), an inner layer of
dentine, and a pulp cavity containing nerves and blood vessels. Primitive bony fishes had
thick scales of either the ganoid or the cosmoid type. Cosmoid scales have a hard, enamel-
like outer layer, an inner layer of cosmine (a form of dentine), and then a layer of vascular
bone (isopedine). In ganoid scales the hard outer layer is different chemically and is called
ganoin. Under this is a cosminelike layer and then a vascular bony layer. The thin,
translucent bony scales of modern fishes, called cycloid and ctenoid (the latter distinguished
by serrations at the edges), lack enameloid and dentine layers.

Skin has several other functions in fishes. It is well supplied with nerve endings and
presumably receives tactile, thermal, and pain stimuli. Skin is also well supplied with blood
vessels. Some fishes breathe in part through the skin, by the exchange of oxygen and carbon
dioxide between the surrounding water and numerous small blood vessels near the skin
surface.

rosy rockfish
Skin serves as protection through the control of coloration. Fishes exhibit an almost limitless
range of colours. The colours often blend closely with the surroundings, effectively hiding
the animal. Many fishes use bright colours for territorial advertisement or as recognition
marks for other members of their own species, or sometimes for members of other species.
Many fishes can change their colour to a greater or lesser degree, by movement of pigment
within the pigment cells (chromatophores). Black pigment cells (melanophores), of almost
universal occurrence in fishes, are often juxtaposed with other pigment cells. When placed
beneath iridocytes or leucophores (bearing the silvery or white pigment guanine),
melanophores produce structural colours of blue and green. These colours are often
extremely intense, because they are formed by refraction of light through the needlelike
crystals of guanine. The blue and green refracted colours are often relatively pure, lacking
the red and yellow rays, which have been absorbed by the black pigment (melanin) of the
melanophores. Yellow, orange, and red colours are produced by erythrophores, cells
containing the appropriate carotenoid pigments. Other colours are produced by
combinations of melanophores, erythrophores, and iridocytes.
The muscle system
The major portion of the body of most fishes consists of muscles. Most of the mass is trunk
musculature, the fin muscles usually being relatively small. The caudal fin is usually the most
powerful fin, being moved by the trunk musculature. The body musculature is usually
arranged in rows of chevron-shaped segments on each side. Contractions of these segments,
each attached to adjacent vertebrae and vertebral processes, bends the body on the
vertebral joint, producing successive undulations of the body, passing from the head to the
tail, and producing driving strokes of the tail. It is the latter that provides the strong forward
movement for most fishes.
The digestive system
The digestive system, in a functional sense, starts at the mouth, with the teeth used to
capture prey or collect plant foods. Mouth shape and tooth structure vary greatly in fishes,
depending on the kind of food normally eaten. Most fishes are predacious, feeding on small
invertebrates or other fishes and have simple conical teeth on the jaws, on at least some of
the bones of the roof of the mouth, and on special gill arch structures just in front of
the esophagus. The latter are throat teeth. Most predacious fishes swallow their prey whole,
and the teeth are used for grasping and holding prey, for orienting prey to be swallowed
(head first) and for working the prey toward the esophagus. There are a variety of tooth
types in fishes. Some fishes, such as sharks and piranhas, have cutting teeth for biting chunks
out of their victims. A shark’s tooth, although superficially like that of a piranha, appears in
many respects to be a modified scale, while that of the piranha is like that of other bony
fishes, consisting of dentine and enamel. Parrot fishes have beaklike mouths with short
incisor-like teeth for breaking off coral and have heavy pavementlike throat teeth for
crushing the coral. Some catfishes have small brushlike teeth, arranged in rows on the jaws,
for scraping plant and animal growth from rocks. Many fishes (such as the Cyprinidae
or minnows) have no jaw teeth at all but have very strong throat teeth.

Some fishes gather planktonic food by straining it from their gill cavities with
numerous elongate stiff rods (gill rakers) anchored by one end to the gill bars. The food
collected on these rods is passed to the throat, where it is swallowed. Most fishes have only
short gill rakers that help keep food particles from escaping out the mouth cavity into the gill
chamber.

Once reaching the throat, food enters a short, often greatly distensible esophagus, a simple
tube with a muscular wall leading into a stomach. The stomach varies greatly in fishes,
depending upon the diet. In most predacious fishes it is a simple straight or curved tube or
pouch with a muscular wall and a glandular lining. Food is largely digested there and leaves
the stomach in liquid form.

Between the stomach and the intestine, ducts enter the digestive tube from
the liver and pancreas. The liver is a large, clearly defined organ. The pancreas may be
embedded in it, diffused through it, or broken into small parts spread along some of the
intestine. The junction between the stomach and the intestine is marked by a muscular
valve. Pyloric ceca (blind sacs) occur in some fishes at this junction and have a digestive or
absorptive function or both.
The intestine itself is quite variable in length, depending upon the fish’s diet. It is short in
predacious forms, sometimes no longer than the body cavity, but long in herbivorous forms,
being coiled and several times longer than the entire length of the fish in some species of
South American catfishes. The intestine is primarily an organ for absorbing nutrients into the
bloodstream. The larger its internal surface, the greater its absorptive efficiency, and a spiral
valve is one method of increasing its absorption surface.

Sharks, rays, chimaeras, lungfishes, surviving chondrosteans, holosteans, and even a few of
the more primitive teleosts have a spiral valve or at least traces of it in the intestine. Most
modern teleosts have increased the area of the intestinal walls by having numerous folds
and villi (fingerlike projections) somewhat like those in humans. Undigested substances are
passed to the exterior through the anus in most teleost fishes. In lungfishes, sharks, and rays,
it is first passed through the cloaca, a common cavity receiving the intestinal opening and
the ducts from the urogenital system.
The respiratory system
Oxygen and carbon dioxide dissolve in water, and most fishes exchange
dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide in water by means of the gills. The gills lie behind and
to the side of the mouth cavity and consist of fleshy filaments supported by the gill arches
and filled with blood vessels, which give gills a bright red colour. Water taken in continuously
through the mouth passes backward between the gill bars and over the gill filaments, where
the exchange of gases takes place. The gills are protected by a gill cover in teleosts and
many other fishes but by flaps of skin in sharks, rays, and some of the older fossil fish groups.
The blood capillaries in the gill filaments are close to the gill surface to take up oxygen from
the water and to give up excess carbon dioxide to the water.

Q.5 Elaborate trends for amphibians for land habitat. Why amphibians are unsuccessful
land Vertebrates?
Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living
amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with
most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arboreal or freshwater aquatic ecosystems.
Thus amphibians typically start out as larvae living in water, but some species have
developed behavioural adaptations to bypass this.
The young generally undergo metamorphosis from larva with gills to an adult air-breathing
form with lungs. Amphibians use their skin as a secondary respiratory surface and some
small terrestrial salamanders and frogs lack lungs and rely entirely on their skin. They are
superficially similar to reptiles like lizards but, along with mammals and birds, reptiles
are amniotes and do not require water bodies in which to breed. With their complex
reproductive needs and permeable skins, amphibians are often ecological indicators; in
recent decades there has been a dramatic decline in amphibian populations for many species
around the globe.
The earliest amphibians evolved in the Devonian period from sarcopterygian fish with lungs
and bony-limbed fins, features that were helpful in adapting to dry land. They diversified and
became dominant during the Carboniferous and Permian periods, but were later displaced
by reptiles and other vertebrates. The origin of modern amphibians belonging to
Lissamphibia, which first appeared during the Early Triassic, around 250 million years ago,
has long been contentious. However the emerging consensus is that they likely originated
from temnospondyls, the most diverse group of prehistoric amphibians, during the Permian
period.[4]
The three modern orders of amphibians are Anura (the frogs), Urodela (the salamanders),
and Apoda (the caecilians), a fourth group, the Albanerpetontidae, became extinct around 2
million years ago. The number of known amphibian species is approximately 8,000, of which
nearly 90% are frogs. The smallest amphibian (and vertebrate) in the world is a frog
from New Guinea (Paedophryne amauensis) with a length of just 7.7 mm (0.30 in). The
largest living amphibian is the 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) South China giant salamander (Andrias
sligoi), but this is dwarfed by prehistoric temnospondyls such as Mastodonsaurus which
could reach up to 6 metres in length. The study of amphibians is called batrachology, while
the study of both reptiles and amphibians is called herpetology.
The word amphibian is derived from the Ancient Greek term ἀμφίβιος (amphíbios), which
means 'both kinds of life', ἀμφί meaning 'of both kinds' and βιος meaning 'life'. The term
was initially used as a general adjective for animals that could live on land or in water,
including seals and otters., the class Amphibia includes all tetrapod vertebrates that are not
amniotes. Amphibia in its widest sense (sensu lato) was divided into three subclasses, two of
which are extinct:

 Subclass Lepospondyli† (small Paleozoic group, which are more closely related to
amniotes than Lissamphibia)
 Subclass Temnospondyli† (diverse Paleozoic and early Mesozoic grade)
 Subclass Lissamphibia (all modern amphibians, including frogs, toads,
salamanders, newts and caecilians)
o Salientia (frogs, toads and relatives): Jurassic to present—7,360
current species in 53 families[8]
o Caudata (salamanders, newts and relatives): Jurassic to present—764
current species in 9 families[8]
o Gymnophiona (caecilians and relatives): Jurassic to present—215
current species in 10 families[8]
o Allocaudata† (Albanerpetontidae) Middle Jurassic – Early Pleistocene

Triadobatrachus massinoti, a proto-frog from the Early Triassic of Madagascar

The actual number of species in each group depends on the taxonomic classification
followed. The two most common systems are the classification adopted by the website
AmphibiaWeb, University of California, Berkeley, and the classification
by herpetologist Darrel Frost and the American Museum of Natural History, available as the
online reference database "Amphibian Species of the World". [9] The numbers of species cited
above follows Frost and the total number of known amphibian species as of March 31,
2019, is exactly 8,000,[10] of which nearly 90% are frogs.
With the phylogenetic classification, the taxon Labyrinthodontia has been discarded as it is
a polyparaphyletic group without unique defining features apart from shared primitive
characteristics. Classification varies according to the preferred phylogeny of the author and
whether they use a stem-based or a node-based classification. Traditionally, amphibians as a
class are defined as all tetrapods with a larval stage, while the group that includes the
common ancestors of all living amphibians (frogs, salamanders and caecilians) and all their
descendants is called Lissamphibia. The phylogeny of Paleozoic amphibians is uncertain, and
Lissamphibia may possibly fall within extinct groups, like the Temnospondyli (traditionally
placed in the subclass Labyrinthodontia) or the Lepospondyli, and in some analyses even in
the amniotes. This means that advocates of phylogenetic nomenclature have removed a
large number of basal Devonian and Carboniferous amphibian-type tetrapod groups that
were formerly placed in Amphibia in Linnaean taxonomy, and included them elsewhere
under cladistic taxonomy.[2] If the common ancestor of amphibians and amniotes is included
in Amphibia, it becomes a paraphyletic group.
All modern amphibians are included in the subclass Lissamphibia, which is usually considered
a clade, a group of species that have evolved from a common ancestor. The three modern
orders are Anura (the frogs), Caudata (or Urodela, the salamanders), and Gymnophiona (or
Apoda, the caecilians). It has been suggested that salamanders arose separately from a
Temnospondyl-like ancestor, and even that caecilians are the sister group of the
advanced reptiliomorph amphibians, and thus of amniotes.[14] Although the fossils of several
older proto-frogs with primitive characteristics are known, the oldest "true frog" is Prosalirus
bitis, from the Early Jurassic Kayenta Formation of Arizona. It is anatomically very similar to
modern frogs.[15] The oldest known caecilian is another Early Jurassic species, Eocaecilia
micropodia, also from Arizona.[16] The earliest salamander is Beiyanerpeton
jianpingensis from the Late Jurassic of northeastern China.
Authorities disagree as to whether Salientia is a superorder that includes the order Anura, or
whether Anura is a sub-order of the order Salientia. The Lissamphibia are traditionally
divided into three orders, but an extinct salamander-like family, the Albanerpetontidae, is
now considered part of Lissamphibia alongside the superorder Salientia. Furthermore,
Salientia includes all three recent orders plus the Triassic proto-frog, Triadobatrachus.

Restoration of Eusthenopteron, a fully aquatic lobe-finned fish

Restoration of Tiktaalik, an advanced tetrapodomorph fish

The first major groups of amphibians developed in the Devonian period, around 370 million
years ago, from lobe-finned fish which were similar to the
modern coelacanth and lungfish.[19] These ancient lobe-finned fish had evolved multi-jointed
leg-like fins with digits that enabled them to crawl along the sea bottom. Some fish had
developed primitive lungs that help them breathe air when the stagnant pools of the
Devonian swamps were low in oxygen. They could also use their strong fins to hoist
themselves out of the water and onto dry land if circumstances so required. Eventually, their
bony fins would evolve into limbs and they would become the ancestors to all tetrapods,
including modern amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Despite being able to crawl on
land, many of these prehistoric tetrapodomorph fish still spent most of their time in the
water. They had started to develop lungs, but still breathed predominantly with gills. [20]
Many examples of species showing transitional features have been
discovered. Ichthyostega was one of the first primitive amphibians, with nostrils and more
efficient lungs. It had four sturdy limbs, a neck, a tail with fins and a skull very similar to that
of the lobe-finned fish, Eusthenopteron.[19] Amphibians evolved adaptations that allowed
them to stay out of the water for longer periods. Their lungs improved and their skeletons
became heavier and stronger, better able to support the weight of their bodies on land. They
developed "hands" and "feet" with five or more digits;[21] the skin became more capable of
retaining body fluids and resisting desiccation. [20] The fish's hyomandibula bone in
the hyoid region behind the gills diminished in size and became the stapes of the amphibian
ear, an adaptation necessary for hearing on dry land.[22] An affinity between the amphibians
and the teleost fish is the multi-folded structure of the teeth and the paired supra-occipital
bones at the back of the head, neither of these features being found elsewhere in the animal
kingdom.[23]

The Permian lepospondyl Diplocaulus was largely aquatic

At the end of the Devonian period (360 million years ago), the seas, rivers and lakes were
teeming with life while the land was the realm of early plants and devoid of
vertebrates,[23] though some, such as Ichthyostega, may have sometimes hauled themselves
out of the water. It is thought they may have propelled themselves with their forelimbs,
dragging their hindquarters in a similar manner to that used by the elephant seal.[21] In the
early Carboniferous (360 to 345 million years ago), the climate became wet and warm.
Extensive swamps developed with mosses, ferns, horsetails and calamites. Air-
breathing arthropods evolved and invaded the land where they provided food for
the carnivorous amphibians that began to adapt to the terrestrial environment. There were
no other tetrapods on the land and the amphibians were at the top of the food chain,
occupying the ecological position currently held by the crocodile. Though equipped with
limbs and the ability to breathe air, most still had a long tapering body and strong
tail.[23] They were the top land predators, sometimes reaching several metres in length,
preying on the large insects of the period and the many types of fish in the water. They still
needed to return to water to lay their shell-less eggs, and even most modern amphibians
have a fully aquatic larval stage with gills like their fish ancestors. It was the development of
the amniotic egg, which prevents the developing embryo from drying out, that enabled the
reptiles to reproduce on land and which led to their dominance in the period that followed.
[19]
After the Carboniferous rainforest collapse amphibian dominance gave way to reptiles,
[24]
and amphibians were further devastated by the Permian–Triassic extinction
event.[25] During the Triassic Period (250 to 200 million years ago), the reptiles continued to
out-compete the amphibians, leading to a reduction in both the amphibians' size and their
importance in the biosphere. According to the fossil record, Lissamphibia, which includes all
modern amphibians and is the only surviving lineage, may have branched off from the
extinct groups Temnospondyli and Lepospondyli at some period between the Late
Carboniferous and the Early Triassic. The relative scarcity of fossil evidence precludes precise
dating,[20] but the most recent molecular study, based on multilocus sequence typing,
suggests a Late Carboniferous/Early Permian origin for extant amphibians.[26]

The temnospondyl Eryops had sturdy limbs to support its body on land
The origins and evolutionary relationships between the three main groups of amphibians is a
matter of debate. A 2005 molecular phylogeny, based on rDNA analysis, suggests that
salamanders and caecilians are more closely related to each other than they are to frogs. It
also appears that the divergence of the three groups took place in the Paleozoic or
early Mesozoic (around 250 million years ago), before the breakup of the
supercontinent Pangaea and soon after their divergence from the lobe-finned fish. The
briefness of this period, and the swiftness with which radiation took place, would help
account for the relative scarcity of primitive amphibian fossils. ] There are large gaps in
the fossil record, the discovery of the dissorophoid temnospondyl Gerobatrachus from the
Early Permian in Texas in 2008 provided a missing link with many of the characteristics of
modern frogs.[14] Molecular analysis suggests that the frog–salamander divergence took
place considerably earlier than the palaeontological evidence indicates. One study suggested
suggested that the last common ancestor of all modern amphibians lived about 315 million
years ago, and that stereospondyl temnospondyls are the closest relatives to the caecilians.
However, most studies support a single monophyletic origin of all modern amphibians within
the dissorophoid temnospondyls.
As they evolved from lunged fish, amphibians had to make certain adaptations for living on
land, including the need to develop new means of locomotion. In the water, the sideways
thrusts of their tails had propelled them forward, but on land, quite different mechanisms
were required. Their vertebral columns, limbs, limb girdles and musculature needed to be
strong enough to raise them off the ground for locomotion and feeding. Terrestrial adults
discarded their lateral line systems and adapted their sensory systems to receive stimuli via
the medium of the air. They needed to develop new methods to regulate their body heat to
cope with fluctuations in ambient temperature. They developed behaviours suitable for
reproduction in a terrestrial environment. Their skins were exposed to
harmful ultraviolet rays that had previously been absorbed by the water. The skin changed
to become more protective and prevent excessive water loss