Introduction to Amphibia

Frogo torpedo
Why are frogs so happy? They eat whatever bugs them!

Amphibians in the fossil record

Shown at the left is Phlegethonia, an aistopod from the Pennsylvanian.

!Amphibians go back all the way to at least the Upper Carboniferous (360-286 mya) !The familiar frogs, toads, and salamanders have been present since at least the Jurassic Period.

Amphibians in the fossil record

The later Paleozoic saw a great diversity of amphibians, ranging from small legless swimming forms (Aistopoda) to bizarre "horned" forms (Nectridea). Other Paleozoic amphibians more or less resembled salamanders outwardly but differed in details of skeletal structure

The fossil frog pictured above comes from the Eocene, only 45 to 55 million years ago

Amphibia: Life History and Ecology

The name amphibian means "double life", and is given to members of this group for the double life that they lead.

Young amphibians spend their early years in the water breathing through gills in the side of their head in much the same way as fish do.

Amphibia: Life History and Ecology

As they mature, amphibians will usually lose their gills and develop legs (Metamorphosis). However..
A number of salamanders, such as the North American "mudpuppy", develop legs but retain their larval gills and stay in the water throughout their lifetimes Mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus) This is a classic example of an evolutionary phenomenon known as neoteny the retention of larval or juvenile features in mature adults.

Origin and Evolution of the Class Amphibia

Devonian Age of Fish and Amphibians Very warm and wet climate; many shallow, warm, freshwater seas Swamps prevailed throughout the Devonian and into the Triassic Plants dominated by Scale trees and Horsetails. The First gymnosperms appeared

Ichthyostega, a small, early amphibian (3ft / 1m) from Greenland

Why leave the water?

Hynerpeton bassetti is one of the oldest known amphibians, dating back 363 million years to the Devonian of Pennsylvania. Escape predators Ephemeral nature of particular bodies of water Food Resources Take advantage of two habitat niches

What would you take along (Adaptations)?

Skin -- for protection and temp effects Breathing apparatus (lungs) Vision System Locomoter Adaptations (Limbs, vertebral, ribs, and diaphragm) Digestive system changes Sound reception

Tetrapods and The Move to Dry Land

Tetrapods (tetra=four, pod=feet) were the first vertebrates to truly walk the land. Before tetrapods existed, vertebrates were all confined to living in aquatic habitats. They began their conquest of land in the Paleozic around 360 million years ago.

This point represents one of the great events of vertebrate history: the development of four limbs in the common ancestor of all tetrapods

Where did tetrapods come from? 2 possible ancestors - Lung fish - Crossopterygian fish (Lobe-finned fish)

1. Lungfish
As the name implies lungs are present, as are modified fins The heart is partly divided into a left and a right half as in true land vertebrates.

South American Lungfish

Life on land is possible, but

Dermal Bones - dont match size, shape, or positioning of modern amphibians Limb structure - dont have radius, ulna, humerus, wrist, or fingers Lack teeth in margins of the skull - found in first amphibians There are 3 living groups of lungfish. Their distribution suggests that at some point the land masses were linked together
Read web sections on Laurasia, Gondwanaland and continental drift

2. Crossopterygian Fish
Had what appeared to be a radius, ulna, finger structure, etc.

Modern coelacanth

Presence of labrynthodont tooth. Found in only two groups of vertebrates: Lobe-finned fish and early amphibians

Dermal Bones matched those of first amphibians Parietal foramen

Lobe-finned fish First Amphibians

Modern Coelacanth

Early Amphibian

Many bottom-living modern fish use their fins to help them maneuver over the bottom. But the pattern of bones at the base of the fins of most modern fish are quite unlike those of the limbs of land vertebrates. However, the arrangement of bones within the base of the fin of the modern coelacanth is very similar to the limb structure of land vertebrates.

The most likely ancestors of the amphibians were the Rhipidistians - a type of crossopterygian fish (quite closely related to the coelacanth line) which were common about 250 mya. The rhipidistians were large fish, up to a meter in length, with deep bodies, and powerful teeth. They were predators, and probably lay in ambush to catch passing fish.

Considered the most probable ancestors of the amphibians because the two groups share a number of important characters;
1. the arrangement of skull bones is similar 2. the amphibian limb can be derived from the fin structure 3. the rhipidistians lived in shallow freshwater lakes and almost certainly had lungs and breathed air 4. both rhipidistians and early amphibians have a labrynthodont tooth 5. rhipidistians were the only fish which had developed an opening to the nostrils inside the mouth - a feature which is found in all the land vertebrates.

The Missing Link?

Link????

Many specimens from the Middle Devonian

Appeared in the Late Devonian

Unfortunately no fossil species which directly link the two groups have been found during the intervening period of about 30 million years.