Amphibians

The extraordinarily diverse vertebrate class Amphibia is divided into three orders: newts and salamanders, frogs and toads, and the curiously worm-like caecilians. The taxonomic name amphibian is derived from the Greek amphibios, meaning “double life”. Although most amphibians transform from aquatic larvae to terrestrial adults, some species, such as the golden alpine salamander, live permanently on land while others, such as the axolotl, never leave water. Of the world’s c. 6,300 amphibian species, around one in three are threatened with extinction.

Explore ARKive for videos and images of endangered amphibians, and learn about amphibian conservation, biology and more in our species fact-files.