The amphibians are the oldest class of terrestrial vertebrates - the first to bridge the gap between the land and sea, and in their time the dominant order on the last with species reaching up to 30ft long. However, in the modern world they are essentially small species with even the largest species being only 180cm long at most - significantly smaller than the largest fish, reptiles, birds or mammals. They are represented by 3 modern orders - Urodela (newts and salamanders), Anura (frogs and toads) and Apoda (caecilians) totaling around 7000 species. They are perhaps most notable for going through an aquatic larval stage before developing into a full adult - something that no other vertebrate order does.
URODELA - The Newts and Salamanders
SALAMANDRIDAE
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