Amphibians

Like many other animals, Amphibians are vertebrates, which means they are animals with a backbone and an internal skeleton.
Most amphibians live part of their life in water and good portion of it on land. Some breathe through gills, much like a fish does.

It's believed that amphibians might have evolved from a prehistoric type of finned fish around 400 million years ago. Today's amphibians are, of course, very different from their ancestral forms. They still require water due to their non-waterproof skin. While some of these animals can exist on land, many amphibians must return to the water, especially to breed and/or lay eggs

The classification Amphibia represents somewhere around 5,000 species of carnivorous animals, arranged in three distinct groups. These are Frogs and Toads, Newts and Salamanders, and Caecilians.

A Caecilian - a small slender, limbless, wormlike, amphibian, belonging to the Gymnophiona order. Caecilians are a burrowing creature that live mainly in moist soil in tropical regions

Sadly, amphibians are prey for many other animals - birds, mammals, reptiles, fishes, and even other amphibians rely upon these animals as their food source. Amphibians are a fundamental part of the Great Food Chain of Life. In order for life to balance itself out, some animals must be sacrificed so that others may live. Yet amazingly, amphibians have managed to survive for millions of years.

Imitating poisonous species can definitely help keep Salamanders alive, although certain salamanders actually have poison within their tails (the most vulnerable part of their bodies open to attacks). Some of these smart critters rely on the old trick of "playing dead," while others protect themselves by biting.

These incredible little animals can even scream and yelp! One unusual defense is the ability to survive inside the stomach of a predator! In a few cases, some amphibians have been noted to live as long as 30 minutes inside a predator's stomach! This might be "hard to swallow," but it's true. Believe it or not!