Page 14 - Amphibian

The importance of water

Water plays a vital role in amphibian life.
Amphibians need fresh water to keep their skin moist,
and most species require a watery environment for
reproduction – especially species that spend all or part
of their lives as larvae under water. In aquatic or swampy
habitats, water passes rapidly through an amphibian’s SHIP OF THE DESERT
skin into its body and has to be eliminated via its Contrary to popular
opinion, camels do
kidneys. In dry areas, amphibians risk losing more water not store water in
FLOWER POWER than they can take up. Frogs can reduce water loss by their humps (which
Thumbelina is a children’s story having a less porous skin, by seeking damp, shady are fat reserves), but
about a tiny flower fairy stolen by a drink large quantities
toad who wanted Thumbelina to places, by burrowing, and by taking up water from wet of water to replace
marry his ugly son. The old toad what they have lost.
imprisoned Thumbelina on a lily surfaces. Some toads obtain almost three-quarters of the
pad in the middle of a river, but water they need through a “seat,” or baggy patch, on their pelvis that
helped by the fishes, she escaped
and eventually married they press against moist surfaces. Amphibians rarely drink water,
the Prince of the although they may take in a little with their food. Many amphibians
Flower People.
have adapted their behavior and skin surface structure to a surprising
variety of habitats: to life in ponds and in trees (even high in the
forest canopy where the only freestanding water collects in
pockets formed by leaves), and to life in the desert, by
burrowing and forming cocoons.

BREATHING
UNDERWATER
The larva of the
tiger salamander
uses its three
pairs of large,
feathery gills
to breathe
Female underwater.
crested newt The deep red
gills are rich in
blood vessels,
which absorb
the dissolved
air from
the water.
WET AND DRY
Crested newts
spend most of the
year on land,
returning to the
water to breed
in the spring
(pp. 40–41). In
the water they
shed their dry,
warty skin for a
smoother one.

One of
three pairs
of gills Young tiger
salamander
with gills

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