User:The Transhumanist/Sandbox144
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Introduction
Selected amphibian type
Caecilians (/sɪˈsɪliən/; New Latin for 'blind ones') are a group of limbless, vermiform (worm-shaped) or serpentine (snake-shaped) amphibians with small or sometimes nonexistent eyes. They mostly live hidden in soil or in streambeds, and this cryptic lifestyle renders caecilians among the least familiar amphibians. Modern caecilians live in the tropics of South and Central America, Africa, and southern Asia. Caecilians feed on small subterranean creatures such as earthworms. The body is cylindrical and often darkly coloured, and the skull is bullet-shaped and strongly built. Caecilian heads have several unique adaptations, including fused cranial and jaw bones, a two-part system of jaw muscles, and a chemosensory tentacle in front of the eye. The skin is slimy and bears ringlike markings or grooves and may contain scales.
Modern caecilians are a clade, the order Gymnophiona' /ˌdʒɪmnəˈfaɪənə/ (or Apoda /ˈæpədə/), one of the three living amphibian groups alongside Anura (frogs) and Urodela (salamanders). Gymnophiona is a crown group, encompassing all modern caecilians and all descendants of their last common ancestor. There are more than 220 living species of caecilian classified in 10 families. Gymnophionomorpha is a recently coined name for the corresponding total group which includes Gymnophiona as well as a few extinct stem-group caecilians (extinct amphibians whose closest living relatives are caecilians but are not descended from any caecilian). Some palaeontologists have used the name Gymnophiona for the total group and the old name Apoda for the crown group'. However, Apoda has other even older uses, including as the name of a genus of Butterfly making its use potentially confusing and best avoided. 'Gymnophiona' derives from the Greek words γυμνος / gymnos (Ancient Greek for 'naked') and οφις / ophis (Ancient Greek for 'snake'), as the caecilians were originally thought to be related to snakes and to lack scales.
The study of caecilian evolution is complicated by their poor fossil record and specialized anatomy. Genetic evidence and some anatomical details (such as pedicellate teeth) support the idea that frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (collectively known as lissamphibians) are each others' closest relatives. Frogs and salamanders show many similarities to dissorophoids, a group of extinct amphibians in the order Temnospondyli. Caecilians are more controversial; many studies extend dissorophoid ancestry to caecilians. Some studies have instead argued that caecilians descend from extinct lepospondyl or stereospondyl amphibians, contradicting evidence for lissamphibian monophyly (common ancestry). Rare fossils of early gymnophionans such as Eocaecilia and Funcusvermis have helped to test the various conflicting hypotheses for the relationships between caecilians and other living and extinct amphibians. (Full article...)
Selected frog article
Rhinodermatidae, also known as Darwin's frogs, mouth-breeding frogs or mouth-brooding frogs, is a small family of frogs found in temperate forests of southern Chile and adjacent Argentina.
They are a unique and evolutionary significant group of frogs, being the most basal extant members of the widespread frog superfamily Hyloidea and having branched from the rest during the Late Cretaceous, just a few million years prior to the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event. The two genera, Rhinoderma and Insuetophrynus, are thought to have diverged during the Paleocene. Despite their ancient origins, all three species in the family are now endangered due to habitat destruction, invasive species, and especially the spread of chytridomycosis in their native habitats, and one, the Chile Darwin's frog (Rhinoderma rufum), may already be extinct. (Full article...)
Selected salamander article
The salamander is an amphibian of the order Urodela which, as with many real creatures, often has been ascribed fantastic and sometimes occult qualities by pre-modern authors (as in the allegorical descriptions of animals in medieval bestiaries) not possessed by the real organism. The legendary salamander is often depicted as a typical salamander in shape with a lizard-like form, but is usually ascribed an affinity with fire, sometimes specifically elemental fire. (Full article...)
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Picture slideshow
- Image 1Emerald-eyed tree frog
- Image 2Edible Frog
- Image 3Frogs
- Image 4Litoria chloris
- Image 5American toad
- Image 6Common frog
- Image 7Eastern newt
- Image 8Limnodynastes dumerilii
- Image 9Atelopus certus
- Image 10Leaf green tree frog
- Image 11Marsh frog
- Image 12Golden toad
- Image 13Limosa harlequin frog
- Image 14White-lipped tree frog
- Image 15Dendropsophus microcephalus
- Image 16Male Smooth Newt (Lissotriton vulgaris aka Triturus vulgaris) during breeding season in the Netherlands.
- Image 17Agalychnis callidryas
- Image 18Panamanian golden frog
- Image 19Fire salamander
- Image 20Spanish painted frog
- Image 21Surprise, its an amphibian. This is a genus of South American Caecilians, blind and snake-like, which hunt through leaf litter. Photo from Wildsumaco Reserve, Ecuador.
- Image 22Southern Brown tree frog
- Image 23Agile frog
- Image 24Iberian midwife toad
- Image 25Albanian water frog
- Image 27Magnificent tree frog
- Image 28Blue Mountains tree frog
- Image 29Balearic green toad
- Image 30Epirus water frog
- Image 31Fire salamander
- Image 32Lithobates clamitans
- Image 33Phantasmal poison frog
- Image 34Fire salamander
- Image 35Duttaphrynus melanostictus
- Image 36Italian tree frog
- Image 37Ecnomiohyla rabborum
- Image 38Fire-bellied toad
- Image 39New England tree frog
- Image 40Poison dart frog
- Image 41Blue poison dart frog
Selected toad article
A true toad is any member of the family Bufonidae, in the order Anura (frogs and toads). This is the only family of anurans in which all members are known as toads, although some may be called frogs (such as harlequin frogs). The bufonids now comprise more than 35 genera, Bufo being the best known. (Full article...)
Selected caecilian article
Caecilians (/sɪˈsɪliən/; New Latin for 'blind ones') are a group of limbless, vermiform (worm-shaped) or serpentine (snake-shaped) amphibians with small or sometimes nonexistent eyes. They mostly live hidden in soil or in streambeds, and this cryptic lifestyle renders caecilians among the least familiar amphibians. Modern caecilians live in the tropics of South and Central America, Africa, and southern Asia. Caecilians feed on small subterranean creatures such as earthworms. The body is cylindrical and often darkly coloured, and the skull is bullet-shaped and strongly built. Caecilian heads have several unique adaptations, including fused cranial and jaw bones, a two-part system of jaw muscles, and a chemosensory tentacle in front of the eye. The skin is slimy and bears ringlike markings or grooves and may contain scales.
Modern caecilians are a clade, the order Gymnophiona' /ˌdʒɪmnəˈfaɪənə/ (or Apoda /ˈæpədə/), one of the three living amphibian groups alongside Anura (frogs) and Urodela (salamanders). Gymnophiona is a crown group, encompassing all modern caecilians and all descendants of their last common ancestor. There are more than 220 living species of caecilian classified in 10 families. Gymnophionomorpha is a recently coined name for the corresponding total group which includes Gymnophiona as well as a few extinct stem-group caecilians (extinct amphibians whose closest living relatives are caecilians but are not descended from any caecilian). Some palaeontologists have used the name Gymnophiona for the total group and the old name Apoda for the crown group'. However, Apoda has other even older uses, including as the name of a genus of Butterfly making its use potentially confusing and best avoided. 'Gymnophiona' derives from the Greek words γυμνος / gymnos (Ancient Greek for 'naked') and οφις / ophis (Ancient Greek for 'snake'), as the caecilians were originally thought to be related to snakes and to lack scales.
The study of caecilian evolution is complicated by their poor fossil record and specialized anatomy. Genetic evidence and some anatomical details (such as pedicellate teeth) support the idea that frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (collectively known as lissamphibians) are each others' closest relatives. Frogs and salamanders show many similarities to dissorophoids, a group of extinct amphibians in the order Temnospondyli. Caecilians are more controversial; many studies extend dissorophoid ancestry to caecilians. Some studies have instead argued that caecilians descend from extinct lepospondyl or stereospondyl amphibians, contradicting evidence for lissamphibian monophyly (common ancestry). Rare fossils of early gymnophionans such as Eocaecilia and Funcusvermis have helped to test the various conflicting hypotheses for the relationships between caecilians and other living and extinct amphibians. (Full article...)
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