Amphibia (the amphibians) is a class of vertebrate animals, which in their early life breathe by gills or branchiae, and afterwards partly or entirely by lungs. The Frog, breathing in its tadpole state by gills and afterwards throwing off these organs and breathing entirely by lungs in its adult state, is an example of the latter phase of amphibian existence. The Proteus of the underground caves of Central Europe exemplifies forms in which the gills of early life are retained throughout life, and in which lungs are developed in addition to the gills. A second character of this group consists in the presence of two occipital condyles, or processes by means of which the skull articulates with the spine or vertebral column; Reptiles possessing one condyle only. The class is divided into four orders: the Ophiomorpha (or serpentiform), represented by the Blind-worms, in which limbs are wanting and the body is snake-like ; the Urodela or Tailed Amphibians, including the Newts, Proteus, Siren, etc; theAnoura, or Tailless Amphibia, represented by the Frogs and Toads; and the Labyrinthodontia, which includes the extinct forms known as Labyrinthodons. Research Amphibia
Angler is any of an order of fishes Lophiiformes, with flattened body and broad head and jaws. Many species have small, plant-like tufts on their skin. These act as camouflage for the fish as it waits, either floating among seaweed or lying on the sea bottom, twitching the enlarged tip of the threadlike first ray of its dorsal fin to entice prey. There are over 200 species of angler fish, living in both deep and shallow water in temperate and tropical seas. The males of some species have become so small that they live as parasites on the females.
The British species, Lophius piscatorius is also from its habits and appearance called the Fishing-frog and Sea-devil. It is a remarkable fish often coasts. It is from 1 to 1.5 metres long; the head is very wide, depressed, with protuberances, and bearing long separate movable tendrils; the mouth is capacious, and armed with formidable teeth. Its voracity is extreme, and it is said to lie concealed in the mud, and attract the smaller fishes within its reach by gently waving the filamentous appendages on its head. Research Angler
The Black-throated Diver or Arctic Loon (Gavia arctica) is a sea bird of the family Colymbidae, native to northern Europe and northwestAsia, which sometimes breeds in northern Scotland. Its colouration comprises grey-brown upper parts with white under parts. The nest is built on islets near deep water, and comprises a shallow depression in grass, usually without any lining, and often by the water's edge enabling the birds to slip straight into the water from the nest. One or two, occasionally three eggs are laid in April or May, and the partners take turns in incubating them for about a month. After hatching, the chicks take straight to the water with their parents who continue to care for them for a further two months. The Black-throated Diver feeds primarily on fishdiving to as much as forty-five metres in pursuit of prey, but also eats crustaceans and molluscs and the occasional frog, worm and aquatic insects. Research Black-throated Diver
The bull-frog is a large species of frog found in North America. They are between eight and ten inches long, and get their name from their croak which resembles the lowing of cattle Research Bull-frog
In horticulture, canker is a kind of gangrenous disease to which fruit-trees especially are liable, beginning in the younger shoots and gradually extending to the trunk.
In farriery, canker is a disease in horses' feet causing a discharge of fetid matter from the cleft in the middle of the frog, generally originating in a diseased thrush. Research Canker
Cheironectes are a genus of acanthopterygious fishes, having the pectoral fins supported like short feet upon peduncles. They use these fins to crawl over mud and sand when they get left dry by a receding tide. They may also take short leaps like a frog, and from this they are often called frog-fish. They are found in North-East Australia. Research Cheironectes
Frog-bit (Hydrocharis morsusranoe) is an elegant little water-plant of England of the order Hydrocharidaceae, with floating kidney-shaped leaves, and, white flowers of three petals. Research Frog-bit
Frog is the common English name of a number of animals belonging to the class Amphibia, having four legs with four toes on the fore feet and five on the hind, more or less webbed, a naked body, no ribs, and no tail. Owing to the last peculiarity frogs belong to the order of amphibians known as Anura or tailless Amphibia. The tongue is fleshy, and is attached in front to the jaw, but is free behind, so that the hinder extremity of the tongue can be protruded.
Frogs are remarkable for the transformations they undergo before arriving at maturity. In the spring the spawn is deposited in ponds and other stagnant waters in large masses of gelatinous matter. These masses, with black globules scattered through them, soon manifest change, and after a time the young escapes as a tadpole, as an animal with short body, circular suctorial mouth, and long tail, compressed from side to side. Gillsproject on either side of the head from a cleft which answers in position to the gill opening of fishes. The hind limbs first appear as buds, later the fore limbs project, the gills disappear, the lungs becoming more fully developed; the tail gradually shrinks and disappears, and the animal, which was at first fish-like, then closely resembled a newt (or tailed Amphibian), finally assumes the adult or tailless form.
The mature frog breathes by lungs, and cannot exist in water without coming to the surface for air. The only British species is the common frog (Rana temporaria), but the tribe is very numerous, other varieties being the edible frog (Rana esculenta) of the south of Europe, eaten in France and South Germany, the hind quarters being the part chiefly used; the bull-frog of America (Rana pipiens), 8 to 12 inches long, so named from its voice resembling the lowing of a bull; the blacksmith frog of Janeiro; the Argus frog of America, etc. Of the tree-frogs most belong to the genus Hyla. Frogs swim with rapidity, and move by long bounds, being able from the power of the muscles of their hind-legs to leap many times their own length. Research Frog
Toad (Bufo) is a large genus of over 100 species of batrachians, of world-wide distribution, with the exception of Australia and Madagascar ; most abundant in tropical America and the Indo-Malayan region. Closely related to the frogs (Rana), they differ from them in their flatter upper side, broader head, shorter limbs, and in the skin being dry and pimply, with glands which secrete an acrid fluid. In addition, the toads are toothless, and the tip of the tongue is not divided. They pass through a larval ('tadpole') stage similar to that of the frog, but the eggs, which vary from 700 to 2,000, are extruded in a double chain enclosed in a string of jelly, which is wound around water plants. The tadpoles are smaller and darker than those of the frog. The genus is represented in Britain by two species: the common toad (Bufo vulgaris) and the natterjack (Bufo calamita); but the former does not occur in Ireland.
The common species has on its upper side some tint of brown or grey, varying with its surroundings; and the under parts are whitish, more or less spotted with black. It seeks drier situations than the frog, and is inactive during the day, coming abroad in the dusk and feeding upon insects, worms, and snails large individuals on occasion catching small mice. One toad will in a night's foraging consume vast numbers of insects, so that its cooperation is always to be encouraged by gardeners. From ancient days the toad has been the subject of numerous erroneous beliefs, e.g. the possession of a jewel in its head, the power of ejecting venom, and of living for centuries entombed in solid stone or the heart of a tree. The toad hibernates, retiring in autumn to holes in dry ground or other suitable retreats, and on awakening in spring immediately seeks the ponds or ditches for mating and egg-laying. Research Toad
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Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Amphibia
