Amphibians
Amphibians have a soft and moist skin and have a back bone. The word Amphibians comes from two Greek words “Amphea” which means ‘way of life’ and “Baines” which means two or both. This means they live both ways of life. They can live on land and as well as water. They are born in water and after some years they are able to live on land also.
Life history
Amphibians mate in water and their females lay eggs in water. They may lay up to several thousand eggs each year. The eggs are not protected by a shell, but soon after they are laid the outside swells to make a jelly-like surround. The eggs hatch quite quickly, but the baby that emerges is unlike its parents. Instead it resembles a little fish, with a big head and a wriggly tail. This is a tadpole. At fish the tadpole breathes with gills and feeds on small plants that live in the water. As it grows its body changes. It loses its gills and grows lungs and legs, so that it can live on land. Its diet also changes. The diet of adult Amphibians is flesh. These changes in body and way of life are called a Metamorphosis.
Although adult amphibians are able to live on land, they must keep moist. They have lungs but these are usually not very big, and so amphibians breathe through their skins, this is why they rarely move far away from water. Amphibians are cold blooded due to which their body temperature depends upon their environment. Amphibians living in colder regions tend to hibernate in winter

Kinds of amphibians
There are three main kinds of amphibians
• Blind warms: They are strange creatures found only in the tropics. Although they have backbones, they have no legs and look very much like warms.
• Newts and Salamanders: They look like lizards. Some kinds, such as axolotls, can remain in the tadpole stage for all of their lives and live entirely in water.
• Frogs and toads: They have no tails, but usually have very long hind legs, which they use for jumping. Amphibians defend themselves by mainly at night. They are also protected by poison glands in the skin.

Frogs and toads are the only Amphibians that can live on both land and water.